A news item says that Pakistani people spent almost 200 billion rupees on smoking in the fiscal 2011. It means that we burnt more than two billion dollars on smoking. This is a huge amount, even bigger than the amount Pakistan get in aid from the United States. If Pakistanis can spend such a huge amount of cash on cigarettes, it can be assumed that they can also live without the US aid. The report shows that 65 billion cigarettes were used in the fiscal 2011 in Pakistan. This means that almost 2062 cigarettes are consumed in one second.
It will also be appreciated if the government of Pakistan imposes more tax (it’s strange that the government imposes taxes on basic commodities but not on such unnecessary items) on cigarettes so that they are not used in large numbers.
It will also help reduce health care expenses of the people and the government as fewer people will contract smoking related diseases.
MUBASHIR MAHMOOD
Karachi
