See the latest information about the status of tobacco policies and facts about the tobacco epidemic in Pakistan:
About 25 million Pakistanis smoke, and 1,200 youth start smoking each day in Pakistan. An estimated 100,000 Pakistanis die annually from tobacco-related illnesses.
Pakistan Tobacco Company, owned by British American Tobacco, dominates the market in the country. Because Pakistan is not a major exporter, most of the 55.3 billion cigarettes that are manufactured in the country each year are consumed by its Pakistani smokers.
Pakistan ratified the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control on November 3, 2004.
The Prohibition of Smoking and Protection of Non-Smokers Health Ordinance-2002 went into effect on June 30, 2003. This law enables the health minister to implement any of the following: prohibiting tobacco use in public buildings and transportation, prohibiting tobacco advertising, banning tobacco sale within 50 meters from educational institutions (including colleges), and requiring “no smoking” signs displayed in public places. However, implementation of the ordinance does not appear strong. In 2005, the health minister limited televised tobacco advertisements to allow them to be aired only between 3 and 4 am (previously they were allowed to air between midnight and 6am), but on World No-Tobacco Day 2007 the health minister indicated that he would seek to ban all electronic tobacco advertisements altogether, with restrictions on print and retail advertising.
Cigarette packaging is required to contain a warning that smoking is injurious to health in both English and Urdu.
Sources: ACS, FCA, WHO