By upholding the first ever Australian law requiring that all cigarettes and other tobacco products be sold in plain packaging, the Australian highest court has set an example for Pakistan to follow,” says TheNetwork for Consumer Protection.
TheNetwork joins the international tobacco control activists in applauding the Australian government for standing up to the bullying of the tobacco industry and taking strong and innovative action to reduce tobacco use, the world’s number one cause of preventable death, says a press release issued here on Thursday.
TheNetwork calls upon the government of Pakistan to follow the suit and protect itself from tobacco companies marketing onslaught as it has highest number of youth and poor that are the main target of tobacco salesmen. Presently in Pakistan locally produced cigarettes packs carry pictorial health warning but it covers only 40 per cent of the area that is much less than the recommended at least 75 per cent on the front of pack.-PR