...Says death toll from tobacco consumption rising
Environmental Rights Action/Friends of
the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has urged President Goodluck Jonathan to
speedily sign the National Tobacco Control Bill forwarded to him for
assent by the National Assembly, a move which it says will check the
rising death toll resulting from tobacco consumption in the country.
The comprehensive bill, sponsored by
Senator Olorunimbe Mamora, was on May 31, 2011 passed by the sixth
session of the National Assemby, and seeks to regulate the manufacture,
sale and marketing of tobacco products in Nigeria.
It however requires the president's
approval before it can be fully enforceable. Speaking with newsmen
yesterday at a press briefing which held in Lagos, Akinbode Oluwafemi,
director, corporate accountability and administration, ERA/FoEN, said
the time had come for the nation to enact laws that would protect
present and future generations from the harm caused by multinationals
driven by profit rather than the protection of life.
"The consequences of not doing the right
thing are dire, especially for a developing country like ours," he
said, adding that the World Bank has declared that over 5.8 million
people die each year of tobacco-related diseases globally; while a 2006
survey conducted in Lagos revealed that two persons die of same on a
daily basis.
Oluwafemi therefore called on the
president to work with the National Assembly towards completing the
process of signing the bill, and set in motion the structure that would
ensure full compliance across the country. "Our government should stand
up and be counted for the protection of the young, the poor and those
deceived into tobacco addiction by enacting a law that will protect
all," he said.
SOURCE: BUSSINESSDAY
