Influencing the Pakistan Government on tobacco control: a study of the Pakistan Anti-Tobacco Coalition
Richard Bourne
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Abstract
This paper examines the recent history of the Pakistan Anti-Tobacco Coalition (PATC), a campaigning group of civil society organisations which aims to reduce the prevalence of cigarette smoking and other tobacco uses in Pakistan. The perspective is one of an analysis of factors leading to success or failure for such an advocacy group wishing to change public policy in a developing country. The findings are designed to be relevant to NGOs wishing to structure campaigns, governments deciding whether to listen to them, and donor bodies considering providing money for them.
The PATC was founded in 2001, and came to play a significant role in lobbying for the Pakistan tobacco control Ordinance of 2002; however, it largely ceased activities as a coalition in the course of 2005. This related to changes in policy and reduced external financing for the body which was coordinating the PATC, TheNetwork for Consumer Protection, and the lack of another organisation to coordinate in its place for nearly two years. The findings of this research are that, where social policy is concerned, implementation is as important as the promulgation of a new policy and civil society has a continuing role. There were a number of significant tobacco-related developments in 2006-7, on which PATC could have little influence. These included: directives of the Supreme Court of Pakistan in October, 2006 to speed up implementation of the Ordinance; a significant rise in the price of cigarettes in the budget; the announcement by Philip Morris, an international tobacco firm that it will invest $339M in Pakistani; and public relations activity by the industry which has sponsored two luxurious smoking lounges for legislators at the Parliament House, Islamabad.
A draft of this paper was presented to a review workshop in Islamabad on 15 February 2007, attended by PATC members from around Pakistan, and has been revised since. The workshop decided to transfer coordination of PATC to another member body, the Society for Alternative Media Research (SoMAR).
The author would like to thank PATC members and others (including staff of the Department for International Development in Islamabad) for their input, and especially Dr Ehsan Latif, former coordinator of PATC, and Khurram Hashmi, research assistant and now coordinator of PATC.