‘Two per cent of men’s deaths in Nigeria caused by tobacco’

At least two per cent of all deaths of men in Nigeria every year is related to tobacco use, a new global report has shown.

 The 2012 Tobacco Atlas said this is the most preventable cause of death in the country and globally.  $591 million is lost annually by the country to tobacco use in terms of health care and related expenses. Besides, it shows that Nigerians smoke about 17 billion sticks of cigarette annually. 

The Atlas, which is the world’s most comprehensive analysis of tobacco related activities, shows that 21.7 per cent of youths are exposed to second hand smoke in their homes and as such are at risk of cancer and other allied diseases. 

Girls who use tobacco are put at 1.3 per cent, while boys, between ages 13 and 15 who use tobacco, stand at 5.6 per cent. The percentage of men who use tobacco is put at 8. 

Experts say if this trend continues,  the country will soon be dealing with a tobacco epidemic.  A tobacco control activist, Akinbode Oluwafemi said: “ This madness must be stopped before it consumes more people. Imagine the number of people dying annually from the killer products of the tobacco giants. This sure must stop, and a way of doing that is to have the Tobacco Control Bill signed into law and implemented.”

Akinbode added: “We have to prevent a situation where Nigeria will become Europe or America where at least 20 per cent of all male deaths have been blamed on cigarette smoking. In China, tobacco use is the number one killer, causing 1.2 million deaths annually and this is expected to rise to 3.5 million deaths annually by the year 2030. We must not get to this state.”

The report said last year, tobacco use killed about six million people globally, with nearly 80 per cent of these deaths in low- and middle-income countries such as Nigeria. It shows that the industry realises almost $6,000 (Sh498,000) in profit for each death caused by tobacco. 

President, American Cancer Society (ACS) John Seffrin said tobacco giants’ activities in countries like Nigeria calls for concern. Seffrin said they are already growing in developing countries. “We can no longer deny or accept the massive human and economic harm costs by tobacco,” he said.

Chief Executive Officer, World Lung Foundation Peter Baldini  said:”The tobacco industry thrives on ignorance of the true harms of tobacco and using misinformation to subvert health policies that could save millions.” 

The high number of deaths has made the WHO recommend higher cigarette prices to make them unaffordable to children and make the habit expensive for regular smokers. 

A professor of Obstetrics & Gynaecology at the University of Benin, Edo State, Friday Okonofua, said: “Indeed, the rising cases of cancer deaths in Nigeria is becoming a national embarrassment, It is my considered opinion that the government needs to develop a comprehensive policy on cancer prevention and treatment, and set up an emergency task force to implement the related plan of action. Such a policy must be hinged on the tripod of the prevention of cancers, early recognition of the disease and prompt treatment. We must go back to the days of Professor Olikoye Ransome-Kuti when he emphasized the importance of preventative health care. I dare say, our failure to heed his advice has continued to plague our health care system and is the major reason for the continued under-performance of this country in key health indicators.”

The Atlas, produced by the ACS in partnership with  the World Lung Foundation and endorsed by the WHO, noted:  “Worldwide, smoking causes almost 80 per cent of male and nearly 50 per cent of female lung cancer deaths.

 “Uniquely among cancer-causing agents, however, tobacco is a man-made problem that is completely preventable through proven public policies.  These cost-effective policies are among those included in the WHOs Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, a global treaty endorsed by more than 174 countries.”

By Olukorede Yishau,

Conference raises concern over fate of Tobacco Control Bill

• Many participants at the World Conference on Tobacco or Health (WCOTH), which ended in Singapore at the weekend, are worried that several months after the National Tobacco Control Bill was passed, President Goodluck Jonathan is yet to sign it into law, reports OLUKOREDE YISHAU

Two days ago, the global community ended a conference where it was agreed that health should take precedence over financial gains from the tobacco industry. The World Conference on Tobacco or Health (WCOTH), which ended in Singapore at the weekend, showed that the tobacco epidemic must be curtailed before it increases the number of people it kills above its current benchmark of 6 million annually.

Two reports released at the conference, the Fourth Edition of the Tobacco Atlas and the Tobacco Watch, paint the gory picture of the state of things. The reports show that Nigeria is at risk, if the National Tobacco Control Bill is not passed into law by President Goodluck Jonathan. 

The Tobacco Atlas puts the cost of tobacco smoking to the Nigerian economy in terms of losses to treatment and low productivity at $591m annually. It said 17 billion cigarettes are produced in the country annually and showed that more people are getting into tobacco use. 

Many participants at the conference kept asking the Nigerian contingent while the Bill passed by the National Assembly remains unsigned. They are of the view that with no law regulating the industry, initiatives to fight the epidemic in the Third World, such as the $200 million worth initiative announced by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, will achieve little result.

President of the Washington DC-based Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (CTFK) Matt Myers urged Jonathan to sign the Bill. Myers said: “If I meet President Goodluck Jonathan, I will tell him that one thing he needs to do quickly that will save the lives of many Nigerians is to sign the Tobacco Control Bill and guarantee that the country will implement it right away. If the Tobacco Bill is signed and implemented, it will save literally over the course of time millions of Nigerians from death. Most importantly, it will protect Nigerian young people from lifetime tobacco addiction and premature deaths.”

Environmental Rights Action’s (ERA) Director, Corporate Accountability, Mr. Akinbode Oluwafemi,  said the Bill is a domestication of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the first global health treaty developed by the World Health Organisation (WHO), which Nigeria has ratified. 

Oluwafemi said: “The FCTC is one of the most successful international conventions. It includes other specific steps for governments addressing tobacco use, including to:  adopt tax and price measures to reduce tobacco consumption; create smoke-free work and public spaces; put prominent health warnings on tobacco packages; and combat illicit trade in tobacco products. 

“The big tobacco are doing their best to ensure regulations are not enforced in line with the FCTC by using tactics hidden under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to hoodwink people in government into toeing their way at the risk of the people’s health. These tactics include: partnership agreements between government and industry; industry-run programmes claiming to prevent youth smoking; and training for farmers.”

Communications Manager, Africa Tobacco Control Regional Initiative (ATCRI), Mr. Adeola Akinremi,  urged Jonathan to sign the Bill into law.

Speaking at the WCTOH, Akinremi  said: “President Jonathan should assent the bill, which is capable of saving lives of many Nigerians in the long run.” 

Akinremi noted that the signing of the bill will help the cause for which the New York mayor has been committing his personal funds. 

For Akinsola Owoeye of the Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance, there are several reasons why the Bill must be signed. Owoeye  said:  “Despite the promises made by the government and tobacco industry, death toll began to rise in Nigeria after BAT came in. A survey in Lagos State showed an increase in smoking prevalence from 8.9 per cent to 10 per cent, and prevalence of heavy smoking which rose to 16.3 per cent. It also shows that two persons die in the state daily from tobacco related diseases. Using the conservative estimates of Lagos State, it means each state in Nigeria has spent at least N2,847,000,000 ($ 18,058,992) to treat smokers in hospitals. Multiply that amount by the 37 states in Nigeria, it also means that Nigeria lost N105,339,000,000 ($668,182,708) in one year. If this figure is justifiable, it clearly make nonsense of the 10 billion naira ($6,343,165) per year, tax paid by BATN.” 

Olukorede Yishau

WHO, rights' groups take on 'Big Tobacco' over smoking

• Two new reports released yesterday in Singapore by the Tobacco Atlas  and the Tobacco Watch Monitoring Countries’ Performance on the Global Treaty, reveal how tobacco companies in Nigeria and other countries lure people to smoke and die slowly, reports OLUKOREDE YISHAU in Singapore

Which does the world prefer: tobacco or health? Expectedly, the global community settled for health, but tobacco companies are doing all they can to lure more people into smoking.  

A report released yesterday by the Tobacco Atlas and Tobacco Watch Monitoring Counties Performance on the Global Treaty painted a graphic picture of the tobacco epidemic, and the progress that has been made in tobacco control.  The report also highlighted the latest products and tactics being deployed by the lucrative tobacco industry such as the new meida, trade litigation and aggressive development of smokeless products to roast control .

These are contained in the Fourth Edition of the Tobacco Atlas unveiled yesterday by the American Cancer, Society (ACS) and World Hung Foundation at the 15th World conference on Tobacco or Health (WCTH) in Singapore.  Before the report was unveiled. 

Akinbode Oluwafemi, director in charge of Corporate Accountability at the Environmental Rights Action (ERA), who is attending the conference, told  reporters at a seminar organised by the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (CTFK), that statistics suggests that less people in Nigeria and the rest of Africa smoke cigarett, adding: “This should be good news, but tobacco giants are using this to advantage by focusing attention in Nigeria and the rest of Africa because they are facing heat in the developed world.”

His observations are supported by the Tobacco Atlas  report. The Tobacco Atlas puts the cost of tobacco smoking to the Nigerian economy in terms of losses to treatment and low productivity at $591m annually. It said 17 billion cigarettes are produced in the country annually and showed that more people are getting into tobacco use. 

The Tobacco Atlas said the burden of tobacco cultivation, consumption, illness and death is moving from developed to developing parts of the world and is taking an increased toll on low and middle-income countries to the extent that nearly 80 percent of those who die from tobacco-related illnesses are in low and middle-income countries.

According to the Tobacco Atlas, estimates of revenues from the global tobacco industry likely approach a half trillion U.S. dollars annually. In 2010, the combined profits of the six leading tobacco companies, the British American Tobacco (BAT), which is the market leader in Nigeria, Phillips Morris International, and others, was U.S. $35.1 billion. This, noted the report, is equal to the combined profits of Coca-Cola, Microsoft, and McDonald’s in the same year. 

A statement by ACS said: “If Big Tobacco were a country, it would have a gross domestic product (GDP) of countries like Poland, Saudi Arabia, Sweden and Venezuela.”

The statement added: “In 2011, according to the Tobacco Atlas, tobacco use killed almost six million people, with nearly 80 per cent of these deaths occurring in low and middle-income countries. When considering 2010 deaths with tobacco industry revenue, the tobacco industry realises almost $6,000 in profit for each death caused by tobacco.

“If trends continue, one billion people will die from tobacco use and exposure during the 21st century –one person every six seconds. 

Globally, tobacco-related deaths have nearly tripled  in the past decade, and it is responsible for more than 15 percent of all male deaths and 7percent of female deaths. Tobacco is also a risk factor for the four leading non-communicable diseases (NCDs) –cancer, heart disease, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases which account for more than 63 percent of global deaths, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

“Tobacco use is the number one killer in China, causing 1.2 million deaths annually; this is expected to rise to 3.5 million deaths annually by the year 2030. Tobacco is also responsible for the greatest proportion of male deaths in Turkey (38 percent) and Kazakhstan (35 percent), and the greatest proportion of female deaths in the Maldives (25 percent) and the United States (23 percent).

“Uniquely among cancer-causing agents, however, tobacco is a man-made problem that is completely preventable through proven public policies. Effective measures include tobacco taxes, advertising bans, smoke-free public places, mass media campaigns and effective health warnings. These cost-effective policies are among those included in the WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), a global treaty endorsed by more than 174 countries, and recommended by the WHO in its MPOWER policy package.”

The Tobacco Atlas shows that countries such as Nigeria, where tobacco giants operate, bear direct costs that arise from health care expenditures for treating smoking-related illnesses and indirect costs as a result of lost productivity and cost of premature deaths. 

Chief Executive of the ACS John Seffrin said: “We can no longer deny nor accept the massive human and economic harm caused by tobacco. This book is a vital tool for not only public health advocates, but also for governments, economists, educators and the media to use to tell the story of how a cohesive, well-funded tobacco industry is systematically causing preventable deaths and crippling economies. We know what needs to be done to counteract these tactics and save up to hundreds of millions of lives.” 

For the Chief Executive Officer of the World Lung Cancer Organisation,  Peter Baldinin, “The tobacco industry thrives on ignorance of the true harms of tobacco use and using misinformation to subvert health policies that could save millions. The Tobacco Atlas graphically illustrates the human toll and massive scale of the tobacco epidemic, breaking the best and most recent evidence out of the research world for an audience that can affect change. We urge advocates, media, governments and health professionals to visit tobaccoatlas.org website and use the available data to expose the deadly harms of tobacco and the industry that benefits from those harms.”

Another report released at the WCTOH, which paints the danger in the tobacco giants is the Tobacco Watch: Monitoring Countries’ Performance on the Global Treaty.

 The report accused BAT, Phillip Morris International and Japan Tobacco of blocking plans in their host countries  to control use of cigarettes.

The Framework Convention Alliance (FCA), which issued the report, said by blocking tobacco control plans, tobacco giants are increasing death rates associated with tobacco use. Tobacco use, said the report, is responsible for the death of nearly six million people annually, 70 percent of them in the developing world. It added that if current trends continue, one billion people will die of tobacco-related causes in the 21st century. The report documents activities in countries that are parties to the first global health treaty, the WHO-FCTC to interfere with regulations.

FCA Director Laurent Huber said: “For example, half of the national NGO partners that collected research indicated that the tobacco industry is running so-called corporate social responsibility (CSR) campaigns in their countries.

“Tobacco industry activities like those reported in Tobacco Watch do more than violate Article 5.3 of the FCTC: they impede progress on implementing all other measures in the Convention, which are proven to be effective and cost-effective.

“In fact, the Political Declaration of the United Nations NCD Summit recognised the key role of tobacco control in combating NCDs –which account for 60 percent of the world’s deaths and specifically recommended accelerating implementation of the FCTC.”  

 Yul Francisco Dorado of Corporate Accountability International said: “This year’s Tobacco Watch reminds us that the primary challenge the treaty faces is not a lack of political or public will, but a defiant, invasive and ultimately deadly industry. Ending tobacco industry interference is paramount to the success of the treaty at large.”

Oluwafemi said: “With more than 170 Parties, the FCTC is one of the most successful international conventions. It includes other specific steps for governments addressing tobacco use, including to:  adopt tax and price measures to reduce tobacco consumption; create smoke-free work and public spaces; put prominent health warnings on tobacco packages; and combat illicit trade in tobacco products. 

“The big tobacco are doing their best to ensure regulations are not enforced in line with the FCTC by using tactics hidden under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to hoodwink people in government into toeing their way at the risk of the people’s health. These tactics include: partnership agreements between government and industry; industry-run programmes claiming to prevent youth smoking; and training for farmers.” 

 Tursan d’Espaignet of the WHO’s Tobacco Free Initiative, in a paper entitled: “Mortality Attributable to Tobacco- a Global Report,” said tobacco is the only legal drug that kills many of its users when used exactly as intended by manufacturers. He said: “Direct tobacco smoking kills five million people per year; second hand smoking kills 600,000 people per year, which means tobacco kills more than tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and malaria combined.  If effective measures are not urgently taken, tobacco could, in the 21st century, kill over 1 billion people.”

No wonder WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan, in a keynote address at the WCOTH, described tobacco smoking as a drive-by shooting capable of killing even by-standers.

By OLUKOREDE YISHAU 

''Tobacco Kills 5.4m People Globally Every Year''

The menace of tobacco use across the world came to the fore Tuesday as delegates to the 15th World Conference on Tobacco or Health (WCTOH) were told that tobacco-related diseases kill about 5.4m people annually.

Speaking to journalists shortly before the opening of the conference, Mr. Matt Myers of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said a substantial part of this number were second-hand smokers, among them children.

He urged governments around the world to implement the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) Article 5.3 whose guidelines were approved in 2008 to protect their people from the tobacco multinationals.

The Article provides for the protection of public health policies with respect to tobacco control from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry.

Myers maintained that there was a fundamental and irreconcilable conflict between the tobacco industry’s interests and public health policy interests.

Speaking at the opening ceremony in the presence of some of the world’s leaders, Health Minister of Singapore, Gan Kim Yong, said the meeting was a major milestone in the fight against smoking in the country.

Yong said that Singapore, as a signatory to the WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, was keen to establish, engage and support local, regional and international partnerships for tobacco control.

“The tobacco epidemic is one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced. It kills nearly six million people a year. This is why tobacco control is one of the top priorities in Singapore's public health efforts. We believe the linkages formed through this important platform of WCTOH 2012 will enable diverse groups to come together to take a collective stand against tobacco and save more lives,” he said.

Present at the opening ceremony were Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General, World Health Organisation; Dr Surin Pitsuwan, Secretary-General, Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Health Ministers and national representatives from ASEAN, Australia, Fiji, Norway, Russia, Turkey and the USA; as well as renowned technical experts Prof Judith Mackay, Prof Sir Richard Peto and Dr. Prakash C Gupta.

This will be the first time the Conference is hosted in Southeast Asia, and about 2,600 international delegates and policy-makers from 100 countries are participating.

“Singapore is the first in the world to impose duty-paid marking on cigarettes to counter-illicit trade, the first in Asia to make graphic health warnings mandatory and also a global forerunner in having a comprehensive smoke-free ban,” said Mr. Ang Hak Seng, Chief Executive Officer, Singapore’s Health Promotion Board (HPB).

Organisers said this year’s conference theme, “Towards a Tobacco-Free World: Planning Globally, Acting Locally'', is strategically focused on planning and coordination of multi-sectoral tobacco control efforts at the international level, while customising local policies and programmes to suit the unique requirements of individual countries.

In a keynote address, Dr Chan said the tobacco industry is engaged in an all- out effort to subvert tobacco control laws: “Tactics aimed at undermining anti-tobacco campaigns, and subverting the WHO FCTC were no longer covert or cloaked by an image of corporate social responsibility.

They are out in the open and they are extremely aggressive. We can, and must, stop this industry’s massive contribution to sickness and death.”

Also speaking at a workshop for journalists, Mr. Bode Oluwafemi of the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), said as the tobacco control measures gathers momentum, the industry has escalated efforts at undermining control legislations.

Oluwafemi said that since the west had imposed heavy taxes on tobacco aimed at reducing consumption, the tobacco multinationals have turned their searchlight on African countries with aggressive marketing to recruit smokers.

He urged African countries especially, Nigeria, not to sign off the future of their youths by refusing to pass tobacco control legislations that would have substantially reduced the number of people likely to pick the habit.

He said the danger of tobacco is that passive smokers (second-hand) are as affected by the dangers of the epidemic as well as the smokers themselves.

WCTOH is one of the world's most prestigious platforms on tobacco control, where the best and most dedicated experts and leaders congregate for debate, exchange of perspectives and overall pursuit of greater solidarity against tobacco use.

The overall objectives of WCTOH according to the organisers are to: provide a platform to build countries’ capacity in tobacco control through the sharing of best practices, experiences, knowledge and research; Strengthen the next generation of tobacco control advocates through a youth pre-conference and the participation of youth delegates at the main conference and renew the commitment to fight the global tobacco epidemic through the conference declaration.

World conference on tobacco holds in Singapore

The 15th World Conference on Tobacco or Health (WCTOH) will hold in Singapore next week.

The conference, which will start on Monday, will witness events such as a workshop for reporters from over 20 countries of the world.

The conference billed for the Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre will also witness the presentation of the  

 Distinguished 2012 Luther L. Terry Awards to nine tobacco control experts from Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, South Africa, and the United Kingdom  for exemplary leadership.

A statement by the American Cancer Society (ACS)  said: “The awards recognise outstanding global achievement in the field of tobacco control in six categories: outstanding individual leadership, outstanding organisation, outstanding research contribution, exemplary leadership by a government ministry, distinguished career, and outstanding community service.

“Australia’s Professor Michael Daube, will receive the Distinguished Career award; the Department of Health and Ageing of the Government of Australia will receive the award for Exemplary Leadership by a Government Ministry; Martin Raw, Ph.D., from the United Kingdom/Brazil and Yussuf Saloojee, Ph.D., from South Africa will receive awards for Outstanding Individual Leadership; the United Kingdom’s Action on Smoking and Health will receive the Outstanding Organization award; Canada’s Prabhat Jha, M.D., D.Phil., and Melanie Wakefield, Ph.D., of Australia will receive awards for Outstanding Research Contribution; and Mira Aghi, Ph.D., from India and Stan Shatenstein from Canada will receive awards for Outstanding Community Service.”

 ACS’s Chief Executive Officer John  Seffrin said: “We are pleased to recognise these exemplary individuals who carry on the noble and incredibly important work of ending the deadly spread of tobacco around the globe.

 “The existence of a global tobacco treaty – the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control–covering 90 percent of the world’s population would have been unthinkable in 1964, and would have not become reality had it not been for the outstanding leadership of exceptional individuals and organisations like those receiving this distinguished award.”

The awards are named for the late United States Surgeon General . He identified tobacco use as a cause of lung cancer and other illnesses.

Olukorede Yishau

Environmental activists task Jonathan, lawmakers on anti-tobacco law

ENVIRONMENTAL activists on Tuesday expressed concern over the alleged refusal of President Goodluck Jonathan to assent “people friendly” bills into law.
The activists under the aegis of Environmental Rights Action/ Friend of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) observed that only the 2012 budget and Freedom of Information (FoI) bill had so far been assented into law by President Jonathan, out of several that were passed at the end of the sixth Senate.
Most worrisome according to the group is the delay of the National Tobacco Control Bill (NTCB), which is to domesticate the provisions of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and reduce tobacco epidemic in Nigeria.
Director of Corporate Accountability of ERA/FoEN, Akinbode Oluwafemi said at the presentation of a “Shadow report on Nigeria’s implementation of the FCTC Articles 5.3, 6. & 13” that over 25 bills were passed at the twilight of the last Senate.
He said that contrary to the provisions of the Nigerian constitution, “President Jonathan has failed in his primary responsibility to assent people-friendly bills into law, without giving reasons for so doing.
“This, therefore, raised questions on the validity of spending billions of naira on the current National Assembly, when the bills of the last assembly will not be signed into law and none of the legislators is asking question,” he said.
Oluwafemi added that the shadow report done in Abuja, Enugu and Lagos has shown that provisions for tobacco control in the public had not been adhered to in several public places.
The goal of the shadow report is to monitor and report on Nigeria’s efforts at implementing the provisions of the FCTC articles 5.3 (industry interference), 6 (price and tax measures to reduce demand for tobacco) and 13 (tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship).
According to him, the report finds that the existing ban on outdoor or billboard advertising has been largely conformed to by the tobacco industry, as there was strict compliance with the regulations on outdoor advertising in the monitored cities.
Meanwhile, the ban on POS advertising has been largely ignored. Most of the stores and supermarkets advertise tobacco products and some even expose cigarette shelves to young people and underage persons.
“During the shadow report, ERA/FoEN was able to establish that Nigeria is still far behind in implementing tax measures to reduce the demand for tobacco. Also, the average price of a pack of cigarette in Nigeria today is N300, while the average discounted price stands at N80.
“Nigerian government officials lack the required understanding on the methods used by the tobacco industry to influence government policies and legislations.
“The tobacco industry has leveraged on its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to weaken government’s resolve for effective tobacco legislation,” the report reads in part.
Oluwafemi added that it is now evident that a lot depends on the prompt signing into law of the NTCB by the president to make the overall enforcement of the principles of the FCTC possible in Nigeria.
He noted that while states like Osun and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) were moving ahead with the smoke-free public places ban, the issues of single sticks sale of tobacco, pictorial warning, tobacco industry interference, taxation etc, would have to wait until the national bill is signed.
Head of the anti-tobacco campaign group ERA/FoEN, Seun Akioye, therefore, called on President Jonathan and lawmakers in the country to expedite action on the anti-tobacco bill among others.
“We call on National Assembly members to fish out the bill wherever it is hidden. It is to save lives of Nigerians. This is the only bill that will, for the first time, benefit Nigerians directly, especially health-wise,” Akioye said.


Wole Oyebade

GROUP URGES PRESIDENT TO SIGN TOBACCO BILL

Group calls for urgent passage of tobacco bill to law

 Env i r o n m e n t a l Rights Action/ Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/ FoEN) has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to, as a matter of urgency, sign to law the National Tobacco Control Bill in order to save the lives of millions of Nigerians who are daily smoking to their grave. Director of Corporate Accountability of ERA/ FoEN, Mr Olufemi Akinbode, who disclosed this while presenting the shadow report on the implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, FCTC, said the bill which scaled the second reading in the sixth Senate in February 2009, failed to see the light of the day till today.

 Against this background, Akinbode said his group has to research on the shadow report in order to draw the attention of the current senate and Nigerians to the incalculable damage the failure of not passing the bill will cause Nigerian citizens.
He lamented that seven years after Nigeria ratified the FCTC; it has not made any appreciable progress towards the eradication of the tobacco epidemic and reduction of addiction, because the process of domestication cannot take place until the President signs the bill to law.
 
SINA FADARE

Why Nigeria must check activities of tobacco giants

Environmental activists task Jonathan, legislators on tobacco bill

THERE are fears that the National Tobacco Control Bill (NTCB) passed by the sixth session of the National Assembly (NA) about six months ago might have been swept under the carpet and might never by assented into law by President Goodluck Jonathan.

Environmental activists in the country expressed this fear, alleging breach of constitutional duty, which mandates that a bill passed by the two houses of NA be sent to the President, who should “within 30 days thereof signify that he assents or that he withholds assent (with reasons)” to the bill that is presented.

The activists under the aegis of Environmental Rights Actions/ Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) said that nothing was yet to be communicated by the Presidency to the parliament on the NTCB, like several other bills passed at the twilight of the last assembly.

They therefore task the President to “work with the N/A to complete the process of the signing of the bill. Sign the bill immediately it is forwarded to his desk for signing and set in motion the structure and machineries to ensure the effective implementation of the bill all over Nigeria.”

Director of Corporate Accountability and Administration, ERA/FoEN, Akinbode Oluwafemi also called on the N/A; Special Adviser on N/A to the President, Senator Joy Emordi and every other official of the N/A to expedite the process of the bill and forward it to the President.

Oluwafemi said that Nigeria has till date failed to set a leadership role for the rest of Africa by taking preventive measures on the tobacco epidemic, safe environment through comprehensive tobacco control legislation.

The tobacco control bill seeks to regulate the manufacturing, sales and marketing of tobacco products in the country. The bill has measures that will tackle youth smoking, prohibition of the sale of cigarettes to persons under the age of 18 among other provisions.

Oluwafemi added: “Our nation is at that crossroad where we have to make a decision whether to complete the processes for the enactment of laws that would protect the present and the future generations from harms caused by multinational whose sole motive is profit and death through the use of tobacco.”

Programme Officer, ERA, Seun Akioye added that the consequence of inaction is already with Nigeria, as the country already adds to World Health Organisation’s (WHO) 5.8 million estimate of people that die each year due to a tobacco related disease.

“According to figures from a 2006 survey conducted in 11 hospitals in Lagos, two persons die each day from a tobacco-related disease.

Our government can however step up this challenge and enact a law that will protect the young, the poor and those who have been deceived into tobacco addiction by the tobacco multinationals glamorous tobacco advertising. This bill is for today, tomorrow and the future. This bill is for our children and us, “ he said,

 

 

 

By Wole Oyebade via  GUARDIAN

Tobacco smoking: Stop the killer before it stops you

- CHIOMA OBINNA


He was walking and all of a sudden he slumped. Thanks to some kindhearted Nigerians who quickly rushed him to the hospital. Unfortunately, he died on the way to the hospital. Further investigations revealed that the victim who was about  28 years old and just finished his youth service never showed any sign of illness before his death.

It was also gathered that young promising graduate of Business administration  was asthmatic. An autopsy carried out by authorities of the hospital to determine the cause of his death revealed that he died of a heart-related disease following his addiction to tobacco smoking.

The victim is just one of the 5.4 million people killed by tobacco use annually and one in 10 adult deaths worldwide.

Mr. Emmanuel Egwu’s case is different. Emmanuel never smoked all through his 35 years on earth.  He had never for once tried to have a drag of cigarette.  Unfortunately, Emmanuel is down with lung cancer courtesy of the environment where he lives.  Emmanuel lives with his three brothers who smoked at least 20 sticks of cigarettes a day! Little did he know that their smoking habit could cause more harm to him instead of the smokers.

Such people as Emmanuel are called passive smokers or secondhand smokers.  According to medical experts, passive smokers are people living among smokers and they are exposed to smoke concentration in the atmosphere they live in. Studies have found that passive smoking is a cause of heart disease and lung cancer and can initiate or aggravate respiratory conditions such as asthma and bronchitis.  If proper care is not taken, Emmanuel may be counted among the estimated 46,000  nonsmokers who die  yearly from heart disease and lung cancer.

Before now, smoking was one habit fashionable and acceptable to the people but has been found  after many years of study and linkages with many ailments to be as deadly as the scorpion sting.

According to medical experts, tobacco smoke in any form and at whatever level, precipitates ill-health.   Smoking has been implicated in about 60 disease conditions including  tooth loss, diabetes, impotence, stomach ulcers, ocular histoplasmosis (fungal eye infection), acute necrotising ulcerative gingivitis (gum disease), hearing loss, osteoporosis, duodenal ulcer, reduced sperm count, dysmenorrhoea (painful periods), early menopause, psoriasis, colon polyps, cataracts, asthma, reduced fertility, buerger’s disease, angina optic neuropathy (vision loss), premature wrinkling, crohn’s disease and asthma amongst others. Clinical records have shown that the odds are said to be more than double for those who smoke in excess of more than 20 cigarettes a day.

Statistics from the World Health Organisation,WHO, estimates that about 1.3 billion people in the world are currently smoking and most of them are in developing countries including  Nigeria.

Globally, tobacco causes about 5.4 million deaths yearly compared to three million, two million and one million deaths caused by AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria respectively.  By 2020, WHO estimates that global death toll from smoking will hit 10 million.

According to an Independent Tobacco Control Activist, Dr. Olusegun Owotomo, statistics available show that about 93 million sticks of cigarette are produced yearly in Nigeria and every one of those cigarettes is consumed and that between 150,000 and 300,000 children under the age of 18 months get respiratory infections such as pneumonia and bronchitis from secondhand smoke. More than 40 per cent of children who visit the emergency room for severe asthma attacks live with smokers.

Despite these dangers, efforts are checking tobacco smoking is still not significant. According to WHO,  the global funding of tobacco control, is below 0 million compared to a billion for AIDS, five billion for tuberculosis and around a billion for malaria. As a result, while there has been a gradual decrease in the incidence of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, tobacco-related deaths have been on a sharp increase.

Smoking is a universal problem, which though may have peculiar geographical approaches in terms of solutions, yet remains one with universal determination in tackling.

Critical health watchers say  the ability of the tobacco industry to stage a come back in the country must be checked.

In a write-up, Dr. Olusegun Fakoya, anticipated a huge epidemic of tobacco-related diseases regretting that the resultant strain on public healthcare would be enormous as the majority of these smokers are poor people who have no means to access treatment themselves. Olusegun said with the  pathetic state of the country’s healthcare system, the impending chaos is best imagined.

A big thanks to the recent passage of the National Tobacco Control Bill by the National Assembly. He said the Bill when signed by the President will be one of the ways of forestalling the inevitable doom associated with the current kid-glove approach to the unimaginable disaster associated with smoking.

The Nigeria Tobacco Control Bill is a comprehensive law to regulate the manufacturing, advertising, distribution and consumption of tobacco products. It is a bill aimed at domesticating WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control,FCTC.

WHO FCTC  is an evidence-based treaty that reaffirms the right of all people to the highest standard of health. It represents a paradigm shift in developing a regulatory strategy to address addictive substances; in contrast to previous drug control treaties, and asserts the importance of demand reduction strategies as well as supply issues.

The  Bill is a comprehensive law providing for regulations of supply and demand measures relating to tobacco products. However, the recent prohibition of smoking in public places in the Bill would at least save non-smokers from dying of tobacco-related diseases.

A study on “The use of tobacco products among Nigerian adults: A general population survey” by Isidore S. Obot, Department of General and Applied Psychology, University of Jos, showed that Nigerian men smokes more than females, adding that the poor, uneducated smoke more than the relatively rich and educated.

According to the study,  “Smokers had a higher incidence of health problems and both nonsmokers and heavy smokers were less aware of the risk of smoking than light smokers.” The study suggested that  health education should be a major component of tobacco and health policy in Nigeria.

“Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) increases the risk of respiratory symptoms and lower respiratory tract illness in children, and it also increases the frequency and severity of asthma symptoms. There is evidence that parental smoking causes acute and chronic middle ear disease.”

Analysis of chemicals in the urine of women who live with smokers demonstrates that tobacco smoke carcinogen, are absorbed by nonsmokers from second-hand smoke. Women who live with smokers absorb five to six times more chemicals linked to lung cancer than do women who live with nonsmokers.

It has also been discovered that the risk of wives developing lung cancer doubled when the husbands smoked over 20  cigarettes a day. There was also an increased incidence of emphysema and asthma, although to a lesser degree.

Many studies have also shown that when parents smoke, their children cough. Babies are most at risk, with the highest percentages for bronchitis and lung ailments in infants under a year old.

Although, cigarette packets carry warnings approved by health authorities, none lists the diseases caused by smoking. The introduction of photo warnings was a desperate action by concerned governments over a habit that refused to abate despite numerous interventions.

Warnings on packs

Critical observers are calling for the inclusion of  large, graphic warnings, which is proven to motivate people to stop using tobacco and reduce the appeal for people not yet addicted to it.

Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Health, Dr. Femi Olugbile, said the effective enforcement of the bill when passed into law is also imperative. “Introduction of bold warnings that would  take no less than 30 per cent of the space on cigarette wrappings.

In particular, the introduction of photographic warnings showing cancerous growths caused by cigarettes as obtained in countries like Thailand, Brazil, Canada and Britain, will go a long way in making an informed decision on the part of (potential) smokers to tobacco smoke, death tolls and crippling heart attacks, strokes, cancers and respiratory diseases that are becoming prevalent will be reduced.”

However, Akinbode Oluwafemi, Programme Manager, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth, Nigeria,ERA/FoEN, sees the passage of the Tobacco control Bill as not an attack on smoker.

Youth markets

Another aspect of tobacco activities is the issue of  youth markets.  Today, Nigeria has become one of the largest markets in Africa. Statistics show that youths form over 40 percent of the Nigerian population and 18 per cent of the youths smoke. Unless drastic steps are taken, many youths may become addicted.  A situation experts say  signifies social concern and also portends dire economic consequences.

Measures for Tobacco ControlComplete ban of advertisement, including points of sale.High taxes on cigarettes to discourage more people going into the venture.Protection of non-smokers from the often underestimated harmful effects of second-hand smoking.Expansion of smoke-free public places.Assistance to tobacco farmers to discourage the planting of tobacco.Assistance to pro-tobacco victims to ameliorate the resultant harmful effects of smoking.

Provision of adequate support to states instituting litigations for damages.

20 tips on how to stop smokingBelieve in yourself. Believe that you can quit.Sit down and write your own list, customised to your personality and way of doing things. Create your own plan for quitting.Write down why you want to quit (the benefits of quitting):Ask your family and friends to support your decision to quit.Set a quit date. Decide what day you will extinguish your cigarettes forever.Talk with your doctor about quitting. Support and guidance from a physician is a proven way to better your chances to quit.Begin an exercise programme. Exercise is simply incompatible with smoking. Exercise relieves stress and helps your body recover from years of damage from cigarettes.Do some deep breathing each day for  three  to five  minutes. Breathe in through your nose very slowly, hold the breath for a few seconds, and exhale very slowly through your mouth.Visualise your way to becoming a non-smoker.Develop your own creative visualizations.Cut back on cigarettes gradually (if you cut back gradually, be sure to set a quit date on which you WILL quit).

Quit smoking “cold turkey”.

Many smokers find that the only way they can truly quit once and for all is to just quit abruptly without trying to slowly taper off. Find the method that works best for you: gradually quitting or cold turkey. If one way doesn’t work do the other.

Find another smoker who is trying to quit, and help each other with positive words and by lending an ear when quitting becomes difficult.

Have your teeth cleaned.

After you quit, plan to celebrate the milestones in your journey to becoming a non-smoker.

Drink lots of water.

Learn what triggers your desire for a cigarette, such as stress, the end of a meal, arrival at work, entering a bar, etc. Avoid these triggers or if that’s impossible, plan alternative ways to deal with the triggers.

Find something to hold in your hand and mouth, to replace cigarettes. Consider drinking straws.

Write yourself an inspirational song or poem about quitting, cigarettes, and what it means to you to quit. Read it daily.

Keep a picture of your family or someone very important to you with you at all times.

Whenever you have a craving for a cigarette, instead of lighting up, write down your feelings or whatever is on your mind.

 - SOURCE

‘There is no good in smoking’

 

  Abah

Betty Abah, project officer of Environmental Rights Action (ERA), has been campaigning against smoking for years. She speaks extensively with OSEYIZA OOGBODO on smoking issues.

Why do people smoke?

Smoking is basically a habit that is most times associated with peer pressure, meaning many people, especially the young ones, find themselves deeply entrenched in the habit before they even realise why they are doing it or if it has any benefit at all. Unfortunately, at that point, most must have become deeply addicted and can’t get out. Some say they smoke to get pressures off their mind and then eventually realise that it worsens whatever situation they are trying to escape from, because when you come down with a tobacco-related cancer, you will realise, too late, that that even dwarfs the so-called pressure. And you know that cancer is no child’s play. Tobacco is evil and a completely senseless one because it has no profit whatsoever. 

What are the dangers in smoking?The dangers associated with smoking are legion. It adversely affects every part of the body and is the cause of several forms of cancer including cancers of the lungs, cervix, breast, skin, oral as well as heart attacks, stroke, impotence, and also several types of respiratory diseases. It is well known in medical circles that it is the leading cause of lungs cancer, and that between 85 to 90 percent of lungs cancer cases are as a result of tobacco use. So, if you take up two packs of cigarette a day, then you can be sure you are a candidate for lungs cancer. And why it is so very painful is the fact that many non-smokers fall victim of smokingrelated diseases and even death because of exposure to tobacco smoke, what is called Second Hand Smoking (SHS) or Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS).In China for instance (which has the highest rate of tobacco use in the world), according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), tobacco use kills over a million people every year, about a quarter of the entire global casualty rate, and out of this, about 300,000 are non-smokers who are victims of SHS. I stayed briefly at a cosmopolitan hotel in a city last year while attending a meeting and I had to browse at the lounge. For the two hours or so that I spent there, it was as if I had smoked a whole pack of cigarettes. One of the receptionists, a Lebanese, I think, smoked non-stop and filled up the ash tray in front of him continuously. After some time I had to walk up to him to demand why he had to force me and about a dozen others in the room to smoke. He apologised limply and promised to reduce his smoking rate.Imagine what happens to his colleagues who have to put up with him for several hours every day in that fully air-conditioned and sealed place. Imagine the danger that people across this country face every minute owing to ignorance and also as a result of non-implementation of smoke-free laws.

Why are you campaigning against smoking?I am involved in this campaign as a life-saving measure especially because tobacco- related deaths which happens mostly among young and productive people are completely preventable. I am involved in passing the message that we don’t have to be a dumping ground for the rejects of the earth. As you know, tobacco multinationals are highly stigmatised in Western countries and strict anti-smoking policies are running them out of business, so what is happening is that Nigeria and other developing countries have been targeted as fertile soil for them to recoup lost grounds, to maximise profit. This is also made possible because like many third world countries, we have weak legislations. As you might also have known, until recent years, tobacco multinationals were invited here and greatly pampered with tax exemptions and all kinds of incentives by the government. So, I think the onus is on us as Nigerians to speak out against this evil trend.No company, no matter the jobs it creates, should be tolerated if their end products sicken and kill the best of the land, because at the end it worsens the economy and places additional burdens on an already overstressed health system. It kills them young. And mind you, many of our youths who are hooked on drugs now begin by taking the readily available cigarette, and of course you know how much drugs ruins lives. That’s why we are up against this menace.

Is it true that there is a law against cigarette adverts?Yes, the anti-smoking law prohibits all forms of Tobacco Advertising and Promotions (TAPs). But even before this bill, one of the provisions of WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which Nigeria signed and ratified, banned tobacco advertisement. That’s why you don’t see all the tobacco adverts, jingles, and promotional fashion and music shows anymore. But tobacco companies are slippery by nature so they still try to do one thing or the other to promote their deadly product, but no doubt, it’s a dying trade. 

Does smoking affect the environment in any way?Smoking affects mostly the people who use and those who stand or sit by smokers. But it has also been proven over time that tobacco plants kill the soil and endanger other crops, that’s why when you look at a tobacco farm, you hardly see any other crops planted alongside. I have been to the tobacco farming communities in Ago-Are in Oyo State, and I have seen others, so I can tell you it’s true. They are as deadly as they come. 

Adverts say smokers are liable to die young. If this is true, why are people smoking?Majority of people who smoke do so not because they like the habit but because they are hooked on it. This is especially true with long-term smokers. The manufacturers deliberately increase the rate of nicotine in each pack of cigarette to ensure that they can’t get out of the trap. Nicotine is a highly addictive substance and works very fast in the body once it has contact with it, that’s why you see someone who has been diagnosed with lungs cancer as a result of tobacco use but is still smoking heavily. That’s why you see that people expose their families to poverty because of their smoking habit and yet are not about to quit and save money because they are in nicotine bondage. And that is exactly why we try to discourage young people, not to try at all, before they get addicted.But sadly, it is the same young generation that is being targeted by the tobacco companies. As they are gradually losing their aging customers to death and disinterest, they just have to make up for that gap and keep selling the poisonous thing. Sad. In developed countries, there are several cessation programmes in the forms of counselling classes, toll-free quit lines, nicotine therapies, among others, but you hardly find them here because often, health is not a priority of our government. So, if you are hooked, it takes a lot of determination and atimes, the sheer grace of God to get out and live a normal life. 

What are the statistics on how smoking is killing or making Nigerians sick?Like many other things in this country, there is yet to be definite statistics, but one of the few we have is that of a survey carried out by the Lagos State Ministry of Health in 2006 which showed that out of 29 hospitals surveyed, two people die of tobacco-related ailments daily. Also, that in that year, the state recorded more than 9,000 cases of tobacco-related ailments and the Lagos State Government spent as much as N216,000 on each of them.

SOURCE