Tobacco industry – Pakistan’s Giffen Paradox?
Many governments around the world keep a close eye on the use of tobacco – mostly used in cigarettes. Many countries increase taxes over time to reduce its consumption –…
Tax evasion in tobacco industry
Steal a little and they'll put you in jail, steal a lot and they'll make you king. This famous English proverb is so true when it comes to Pakistan. Illicit…
Fearing tobacco’s fate, palm oil industry fights back
On the morning of Feb. 26, executives from a Washington consultancy presented a strategy paper to some of the most powerful officials in the Malaysian palm oil industry. The message:…
The weight-loss industry
It’s not a conspiracy theory that food addiction is a tool of corporate profiteering. Consider that tobacco companies, upon being regulated out of the business of addictive smoking, turned their…
Harnessing tobacco taxation for economic revitalisation
Pakistan faces multifaceted economic challenges; and amidst these, the role of tobacco taxation emerges as a potential avenue for financial rejuvenation. There is an urgent need to explore how strategic…
Challenges in tobacco control in Pakistan
The international community observed The World No Tobacco Day on 31 May 2022. In the case of Pakistan, however, the Day reminded us all the sordid reality that the cigarette…
Illicit trade in tobacco products — I
This is the first part of a two-part series on how to counter illicit trade in tobacco products, recoup revenue losses and discourage smoking that is great health hazard. Illicit…
Illicit trade in tobacco products — II
19.1 percent of Pakistani population, which includes 31.8 percent of men and 5.8 percent of women, consume tobacco in one form or the other. Among these tobacco consumers, 9.6 percent…
Big Tobacco’s at it again
Here I am - slumped in my chair, in the kind of way that will only hasten the curvature of my spine into an indignant question mark. I am transfixed…
A macroeconomic case for higher tobacco taxes in Pakistan
Pakistan is among the high-burden countries with respect to the prevalence of tobacco use and its implications for public health. Almost one in five adults in the country uses tobacco…
