NATC calls for reducing health hazards Islamabad May 28, 2021 Islamabad : The National Alliance for Tobacco Control (NATC) has written a letter to Minister for Finance Shaukat Tareen, urging him to increase tax on tobacco products in the upcoming budget to discourage smoking and bring down health cost in the country. In the letter, the alliance’s chairman Professor Javaid Khan requested the finance ministry to increase taxes on cigarettes in the budget to reduce the burden of tobacco-related diseases in the country. He said the federal cabinet approved a health levy in 2019 with Rs10/cigarette tax to discourage smoking in youth and boost the country’s revenue, but for one reason or the other this additional tax was never implemented.