Islamabad: A shocking 72% of Pakistani women now smoke, according to the Pakistan Tobacco Board.
A poll shared by the tobacco board with a public accounts committee in the federal capital said that this rise in the number of women who smoke has made medical experts very worried about how bad this habit is for their health.
Health experts say that more women smoking is a major cause of more anxiety and depression. They also say that smoking doubles the risk of stroke and hurts women’s ability to have children.
Experts also said that a woman’s chance of having a stillborn baby or giving birth to a baby with a fatal lung disease went up 20 times if she smoked. They also said that a woman’s bone density goes down when she smokes, which makes her more likely to break her hip.
There more than 30 million smokers in Pakistan, and more than 80 billion cigarettes smoked there every year, according to data.
Pakistan is one of those places where a lot of people die every year because of health problems caused by smoking.
Cancer, problems with breathing, and heart problems are some of the main reasons people die in this country.
Astonishingly, smoking causes 80% of lung diseases in women.
The tobacco board also said that taxes, fees, and excises already make up 85% of the price of a box of cigarettes. However, the Social Policy and Development Centre (SPDC) says this is not enough.
It has suggested that the taxes already in place be raised by an extra 30%.
The SPDC says that doing this will not only bring in Rs27 billion, but it will also stop 700,000 people from smoking.
