WHO lauds campaign against tobacco, urges full treaty compliance

... Group reiterates call for control law in Nigeria

Recently, Nigeria joined the World Health Organisation (WHO) and member nations to celebrate the “World No Tobacco Day” (WNTD) - a day set aside to draw global attention on the dangers of tobacco use, the business practices of tobacco industries, what the global health body is doing to fight the tobacco epidemic and what people can do to claim their right to health as well as protect future generations.


Since its adoption by the World Health Assembly in 2003, 172 countries, of which 41 are from the African region including Nigeria and the European Union, have become parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC).


With the objective of the convention aimed at protecting present and future generations from the devastating health, social, environmental and economic consequences of tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco by providing a framework for tobacco control measures to be implemented by parties at national, regional and international levels, various stakeholders in Nigeria’s healthcare sector have called for the passage of the National Tobacco Bill to become a law in a bid to reduce the prevalence of tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke.


Speaking with BusinessDay to commemorate the ‘World No Tobacco Day at Alausa, Ikeja, Femi Olugbile, permanent secretary, Ministry of Health, Lagos State, revealed that tobacco is the leading preventable cause of death with more than five million people estimated to die globally from tobacco related heart attacks, cancer, lung ailment and other diseases this year.

Although no definite data is available, Olugbile disclosed that the general observation of health workers in government hospitals is that a significant number of patients being seen with respiratory diseases have tobacco-related problems.


According to the permanent secretary, “smoking is the second greatest cause of deaths globally and is currently responsible for killing 1 in 10 adults worldwide. Latest projections estimate that by 2030, tobacco-related deaths would rise to 10 million people a year. These statistics are alarming and should encourage all smokers to quit today to prevent future heartaches and premature deaths.

“In Nigeria, a National Tobacco Control Bill was passed by the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly on March 15, 2011. The same bill passed the first reading on 31st May, 2011, by the House of Representatives The bill makes it mandatory to affix health warnings on tobacco product packaging, strictly regulate tobacco advertising, sponsorship and promotion, prohibiting smoking in public places including schools, airports and public buildings, and introduce regulation on the manufacturing, distribution and marketing of tobacco products in Nigeria.

“The Lagos State government in her usual proactive manner has demonstrated commitment to the control of tobacco by setting up a multi sectoral committee comprising of relevant ministries, private sector, civil society and the media. Areas of interventions include disseminating the effects of tobacco on pregnancy and the health of mothers, protecting non smokers and advocating for an enabling environment conducive to change, among other intervention initiatives.”


Lending his view, Akinbode Oluwafemi, programme manager, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth, Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), revealed that the tobacco control bill, contrary to public perception, is not an attack on smokers. The anti-tobacco activist insisted that most smokers in the world actually want to quit.


Akinbode noted that though no survey has been done among smokers, some of them are actually looking for motivation to be able to get out of smoking, as a lot of them who have started, do not want their children to smoke; that is very clear.


“This is not an attack on anybody. We think that it is rather they should help us to ensure that they get out of tobacco addiction. What we want is that the way other bills were passed, all those bills that they passed recently like the Sovereign Wealth Bill and others, they take it to the House and they say ‘I concur.’ This bill has to be law. We just need very little effort now to get to where we need to,” Oluwafemi added.


There is no gainsaying that an area which needs improvement is in the provision having to do with protection of public health policies from influence by the tobacco industry. Ever hungry for profits, the tobacco industry routinely tries to undermine government’s attempts to control the epidemic.


Although some countries have begun the implementation of policies to reject partnerships with the tobacco industry and making their interactions with the industry fully transparent, more progress is being demanded by anti-tobacco activists and public health experts.


Currently, one-third to half of the 65 parties reported progress in strengthening health warnings on packages of tobacco, in banning tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, in helping smokers to quit and in protecting public health policies from tobacco industry interference, among other measures.


For instance, Australia is in the process of requiring all tobacco products to be in plain, unbranded packs; Mauritius in 2008 became the first African country to mandate picture warnings on packs while Ireland in 2004 banned smoking in public places. The same goes for Thailand which its tobacco tax increase in 2008 resulted in an overall tax rate equal to 57 percent of the retail price. Earlier this month, China implemented a ban of smoking in public places such as restaurants, theatres and bars even as in 2009, Turkey implemented a similar smoking ban.

Recall that the WHO FCTC entered into force in 2005 with Turkmenistan on May 13, 2011 being the last country to become a party. Nigeria signed and ratified it in 2004 and 2005, respectively