World unites against tobacco, US decries drug menace in Africa

COUNTRIES of the world yesterday united against tobacco and the industries, promising to save humanity from the myriad of health hazards associated with consumption of the product.

Meanwhile, worried by the scourge of drug trafficking in Nigeria and Africa, the United States (U.S.) has called for concerted efforts to eradicate it.

The U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, Terrence MCCulley, gave the advice yesterday during the commissioning of one scanning machine donated to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Lagos airport.

McCulley explained that drug trafficking was a multi-billion dollar investment that destroyed lives, adding that the U.S. had watched youths induced with drug money.

“We have seen the deaths of innocent neighbours caught in the cross-fire of drug wars. We have watched our youths seduced by dealers promising escape from life’s challenges and easy money as ‘mules’ to transport their deadly poison across the world’s borders”.

At events to commemorate World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) 2012 themed “Tobacco Industry Interference”, the countries spoke with one voice against interference by international tobacco campaign (Big Tobacco) in laws controlling consumption of the product towards achieving public health that is free of tobacco-related sicknesses and deaths.

Activists in Nigeria also took turn to recount the interference of tobacco industries in Nigeria and several attempts to “derail health policy.”  They called on President Goodluck Jonathan to urgently sign the National Tobacco Control Bill (NTCB) into law.

At events in Washington and Geneva, the World Health Organisation (WHO), Corporate Accountability International (CAI) and partners across the globe launched a campaign to expose and challenge the industry’s interference in the global tobacco treaty (formally known as the WHO Frame-work Convention on Tobacco Control FCTC) and related policies.

Their findings revealed that even as tobacco’s yearly death toll soars beyond six million globally, “Big Tobacco has stepped-up its efforts to prevent proven tobacco control laws from taking effect. Highly visible examples include lawsuits by Philip Morris International and its competitors against countries like Australia, Norway and Uruguay for implementing strong tobacco control laws.”

Executive Director of CAI, Kelle Louaillier, stated: “Big Tobacco is very publicly bullying countries in hopes they will cave, their neighbours will cave, and treaty implementation will cave. But the tobacco industry’s intimidation has only strengthened the international community’s resolve,” she said.

CAI also released a report titled: “Cutting through the Smoke,” documenting global stories of tobacco abuse and grassroots victories. Stories from the report include “Ending the ‘cancer breaks’: NGOs challenge PMI’s influence in the Philippines” which documents the impact of tobacco’s marketing tactics aimed at women and girls in the region, and the use of corporate social responsibility programmes to protect the corporation’s image.   Also, there is “Shielding the youth: Tireless grassroots groups go up against Big Tobacco in Nigeria” which showcases the industry’s violations of international law in its direct marketing to young people.

Director of Corporate Accountability and Administration of Environmental Rights Activists/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), Mr. Oluwafemi Akinbode, told The Guardian that the tobacco industries in Nigeria were interfering in areas that include finding loopholes in control laws, political influence peddling, excuses of creating job employment and tax remittance to the Federal Government and Corporate Service Responsibility (CSR), among others.

He noted that the guidelines for implementation of WHO tobacco control are clear. For instance, “Article 5.3 of the Convention requires that ‘in setting and implementing their public health policies with respect to tobacco control, parties shall act to protect these policies from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry in accordance with national law’.”

Oluwafemi urged President Goodluck Jonathan to speed up the process of signing the NTCB into law, to avail a frame-work for control of tobacco-related health issues in the country and join the comity of nations that have remained committed to public health.

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‘How tobacco firms are hurting our health system’

Ahead of this year’s World No Tobacco Day which is marked every May 31, Akinbode Oluwafemi, director of Administration and Corporate Accountability at the Environmental Rights Action/ Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), sheds lights on the strong lobby of tobacco companies and the need to have the National Tobacco Control Bill signed into law in this encounter with Joe Agbro Jr.

A meeting with Mr. Akinbode Oluwafemi of the Environmental Rights Action/ Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) is filled with excitement. He talks with so much conviction and knowledge about the dangers of smoking that you are held captive and cannot help but listen and reason along with him.

Asked why he is so concerned about the battle against tobacco in the country, he says it is because tobacco kills about half of its consumers. But regrettably, policies in the country do not address this development. According to him, “when you look at smoking in Nigeria, you’ll think smoking is not a big problem. But, I’ must tell you that it’s a very big problem. And this problem has a link with how the tobacco industry is being regulated in the west. You know, most western governments have put in very stringent measures to regulate the practice of tobacco industry and to ensure that smoking rate is decreasing. And because of those measures and litigation, tobacco companies started looking elsewhere. The developing countries, of which Nigeria belongs, becomes a very prime target.”

Growing epidemic 

He is afraid that this smoking epidemic is very real here. According to a survey conducted in Adamawa, as much as 29percent of the youths in that are smokers, while a survey in 11 Lagos hospitals showed that “at least one person dies a day in each of those hospitals as a result of smoking.”

In the absence of a national statistics on smoking, a 2011 survey by the World Health Organisation (WHO)  shows that there is actually rising smoking among Nigerian girls rising up to the level of 3% a year. “That is alarming and extremely disturbing,” Oluwafemi says.

In the overall picture of insufficient healthcare infrastructure, diseases such as “heart disease, cancers of different types, impotence, heart condition, low birth rate, and loss of man hours at work places” are of serious challenge to the health care sector. 

According to WHO, tobacco currently kills over 5.4 million people yearly, with about 70percent of casualty occurring in developing countries like Nigeria, adding that every stick of cigarette contains over 4, 000 dangerous chemicals with over 40 of them being carcinogenic. 

To combat this disturbing outcome, Senator Olorunnibe Mamora sponsored the National Tobacco Bill which was eventually passed by the National Assembly on May 31st, 2011, a year ago. This Bill, Oluwafemi says, was “happily supported by Environmental Rights Action (ERA), it seeks to domesticate the Framework Convention of Tobacco Control, a global treaty, about the minimum standards that countries must adhere to in terms of legislating about tobacco.

“Nigeria is a signatory as well as a party. And since we are a party to that treaty, we are under obligation to implement the provision of that international treaty. The Bill seeks to end advertisement, sponsorship, and promotion, it prohibits the sale of cigarettes to minors, it recommended pictorial warnings on cigarette packs, and it bans smoking in public places. More importantly, that Bill seeks to create a committee, National Tobacco Control Committee which will serve as an advisory role in terms of reviewing the policy. That essentially is what that Bill is all about. I have heard people say that the Bill wants to close tobacco companies in Nigeria. I don’t know whether they have a separate Bill. This Bill has been passed and we are waiting for the presidential assent so that the Bill can become enforceable in Nigeria. We are worried that the presidential assent is taking too long. And we are very suspicious that some people somewhere may want to compromise public health and we’re calling on the president to see this Bill as an obligation to protect the health of the Nigerian people.”

He faulted the idea of mixing sponsorship with corporate social responsibility (CSR), Oluwafemi said, “Tobacco companies are inflicting monumental health impact on our nation. How do you mitigate that by buying computers or drilling boreholes? Can computers and boreholes make up for the lives of our brothers and sisters dying as a result of smoking? No. So, what we are saying is that let government impose appropriate taxes on those products.  Why is it that a pack of cigarettes is about six pounds (N1, 500) in London, seven dollars (N1, 300) in the US, and the same pack is selling for N200 in Nigeria? Other governments have moved ahead to impose appropriate taxes on tobacco products. Then, you can use those taxes to build the schools and to buy the computers. And this time around, even the way they have conducted themselves with the CSR, it is only another form of advertisement. They only practically move their advert budget into CSR so that they can always call government people to sit on the table and they can win public sympathy.”

He blames the non-passage of the National Tobacco Control Bill on the interference of the tobacco companies. “In fact, we have it on authority that they have started calling reporters not to run stories on World No Tobacco Day and stories around the Bill. They know that if this Bill is signed they would not be able to do those things that bring in more consumers the way they’ve always been doing. So, when this  is dragging for too long, our suspicion would certainly be that the tobacco industry has been moving underground as they’ve always been doing, not only  in Nigeria, but all around the world to undermine public health and to ensure that legislation that are for public health are never enacted.”  He punched holes in the industry’s argument that it has a large work force in the country, saying, “the tobacco companies are not employing up to 1, 000 people. That is the reality,” he said. 

He believes that the true nature of the industry is hidden from most Nigerians because “their business thrives on deception. They make people to think that when you smoke, it’s good. And they will never tell you the health implications. So, those deceptions were the basis of their objections which were completely irrelevant because whatever section that you have in this Bill are provisions that are just the basic in NTC Bill. Take for instance, in our Bill, we are seeking 50percent pictures on cigarette packs. A country as close as Mauritius is already enforcing 70percent. Ghana is already thinking of about 60 percent. In fact, some countries like Australia has even gone beyond the pictures and talk about plain packaging. They know it that they cannot debate this because the international community have moved way beyond what is even in this Bill as at today.”

He appealed to the president to sign the bill and save Nigerian youths from the looming tobacco epidemic.


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Who wants Tobacco Control Bill dead?

In one week, it will be exactly one year since the National Assembly passed the National Tobacco Control Bill. But as the world awaits another No Tobacco Day, many are worried that President Goodluck Jonathan is yet to sign the Bill into law, reports OLUKOREDE YISHAU

Minister of Health Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu appeared serious on Monday while addressing the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland. The minister said Nigeria was dedicated to domesticating the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), a World Health Organisation (WHO) treaty, which the country ratified several years back. 

Chukwu’s claim angered many tobacco control advocates. As far as they were concerned, the minister was not being sincere. Their reason: almost one year after the National Assembly passed the National Tobacco Control Bill, which is meant to domesticate the FCTC, President Goodluck Jonathan has not signed it into law. So, they believe only through the signing into law of the Bill which in can the country claim dedication to the FCTC. 

Following the minister’s statement in Geneva, the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) urged him to ensure the Bill  is signed into law.

The group said the Bill, when it becomes an Act, will prevent an imminent tobacco epidemic.

ERA/FoEN, in a letter to the minister, said the failure of the President  to assent the Bill would not only reverse efforts to wean the youth off smoking, but also threaten the country’s leadership position in global tobacco control efforts.

The group said Nigeria having signed and ratified the FCTC is bound to domesticate it through the Bill.

The tobacco bill, sponsored by Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora, was passed by the Senate on March 15, 2011 and concurred by the House of Representatives on May 31, last year. The signature of the President is required to make the bill law.

ERA/FoEN, in a statement by its Executive Director, Nnimmo Bassey, said: “Our plea for the minister to intervene at this crucial time is a patriotic call to save Nigerians from the tobacco industry’s commitment to advocating weak legislation that will ensure they continue business as usual thereby worsening our health burden.

“After the overwhelming support the bill received in the Senate and House of Representatives, it is sad that till date, it has not been signed by the President. The intervention of the Health Minister is a singular action that generations of Nigerians will not forget. Giving Nigerians this gift as we mark the 2012 World No Tobacco Day will be remarkable.” 

Bassey reminded the minister of his promise during last year’s World No Tobacco Day to ensure the Bill gets presidential assent speedily. 

Does anyone want the Bill dead?

Tobacco Control advocates believe that tobacco giants such as the British American Tobacco (BAT) and  Phillip Morris (Altria), which partially acquired the International Tobacco Company (ITC) based in Ilorin, Kwara State, do not want the Bill to become law. 

A source said: “There are speculations that the British American Tobacco Nigeria has also gotten in touch with some key government people especially in the Standards Organisation of Nigeria and the Ministry of Trade. The tobacco industry is said to be in disagreement with two important sections of the bill, which they want expunged. One of the sections is the non inclusion of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria in the membership of the National Tobacco Control Committee as provided for in the bill. Recently, there were talks of meeting between the Health Minister and his Trade counterpart, to iron out issues of concern on the bill, but the meeting didn’t hold. Our position is that if there is anything to be done on the bill, it can always go for amendments. That is what the National committee is there for. The SON also is in disagreement with some of the oversight functions it was allotted in the bill. Now, the SON wanted to be the chief implementation agency for the bill. We believe that the tobacco industry may be using all of these issues against the bill.”

ERA’s Director, Corporate Accountability, Mr. Akinbode Oluwafemi, said the big tobacco companies are working against the Bill. 

Oluwafemi said: “The big tobaccoare 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.”

Really, the Bill, when it becomes law, has the potential to reduce the population of smokers and thus decimate the profits of the tobacco giants. This, said a source, is enough reason for them to frustrate it.

Some of the potentially ‘damaging’ parts include: creating smoke free public places,  banning of all forms of advertisement,  promotion, marketing and sponsorship of tobacco products, restricting the sale of tobacco products to persons under the age of 18, compelling the tobacco industry to disclose the level of nicotine in cigarettes, inscribing health warnings on every pack of cigarettes in accordance with FCTC requirement of 50 per cent total display area and ban on sale of single sticks cigarettes and the ban on sale of cigarettes less than 20 pieces in a single pack.

Loud silence from BATN?

Attempt by The Nation to get BATN’s reactions to its ‘grouses’ with the Bill as passed by the National Assembly and the allegation that it was stalling the signing of the Bill yielded no result. Its spokesman, Aliyu Lawal, acknowledged receipt of questions sent to him on Monday  and promised to get back the following day. As at the time of going to press yesterday, he shifted the goalpost again by saying the ‘clean copy’ of the responses would be ready today. 

The terms of BAT’s Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with BAT allow the company to build a $150 million cigarette manufacturing factory in Ibadan. The factory, which was commissioned on June 17, 2003, was seen by the government as a huge Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the country. BATN also sees it as such, a fact attested to by its Managing Director, Beverly Spencer-Obatoyinbo in a paper she presented last March at a breakfast meeting organised by the Nigerian British Chamber of Commerce. 

 Prior to BATN’s formal entry into the Nigerian market, it acquired the shares of the moribund Nigerian Tobacco Company (NTC) in 2000. The deal granted the company access to the infrastructure and manpower of the NTC. It also included the take-over of the thousands of tobacco farmers. BATN also upgraded its Zaria factory with a new GDX1 machine capable of producing 7,200 sticks per minute. 

Losses to cigarette smoking

But as BATN smiles to the bank, Akinsola Owoeye, a tobacco control advocate with the Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA), said many are frowning either to the graves or hospitals.  

Owoeye  said:  ”Despite the promises made by the government and tobacco industry, death toll began to rise in Nigeria after BATN 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 makes nonsense of the 10 billion naira ($6,343,165) per year, tax paid by BATN.” 

The latest edition of the Tobacco Atlas shows that two per cent of men’s deaths in the country are linked to tobacco use. It says the country loses $591 million annually to tobacco use in terms of health care and related expenses. About 17 million sticks of cigarettes are smoked in the country annually. 

No wonder the  President of the Washington DC-based Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (CTFK), Matt Myers, said the country is losing a lot by not domesticating the FCTC. Myers, who spoke with this reporter at the World Conference on Tobacco or Health in Singapore, 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.”

Senate President David Mark, during deliberations on the Bill, said the damage tobacco use does to the country is enough for health to take precedence over any other considerations. 

Will Jonathan play ball?

Will Jonathan heed the call of the tobacco control advocates, the WHO and others to sign the Bill into law or will he, as alleged, dance to the tune of the tobacco giants--- which appear unhappy with some of its provisions?  It is a matter of time.


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Will ban on cigarette logo stop smoking?

By Imaobong Udo

GOVERNMENTS across the globe have continued to take concrete steps to reduce deaths associated with cigarette smoking.

For instance, the United Kingdom (UK) is planning to ensure that cigarettes are sold in plain packets under new plans to halve the number of people who smoke.
The UK Health Secretary, Mr Andy Burnham, said the government would reduce the number of nicotine addicts by eight to four million in the next 10 years.
He said: “Now that we have banned advertising and will soon see an end to attractive displays in shops, the only remaining method of advertising tobacco is the packaging. So, we will carefully consider whether there is evidence for making tobacco companies use plain packets.”
He added that the packets would only show the brand name in text.
The UK Government also wants to target the estimated 200,000 young people who take up smoking every year.
Burnham said: “Government should and will do everything in its power to protect young people.”
The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimated that tobacco caused 5.4 million deaths in 2004 and 100 million deaths over the course of the 20th century.
Similarly, the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention described tobacco use as the single most important preventable risk to human health in developed countries which also include about 600,000 premature deaths per year, numerous crippling illnesses and economic losses.
According to WHO, smoke contains several carcinogenic pyrolytic products that bind to DNA and cause many genetic mutations. There are over 19 known chemical carcinogens in cigarette smoke. Tobacco also contains nicotine, which is a highly addictive psychoactive chemical. When tobacco is smoked, nicotine causes physical and psychological dependency. Tobacco use is a significant factor in miscarriages among pregnant smokers, it contributes to a number of other threats to the health of the foetus such as premature births and low birth weight and increases by 1.4 to 3 times the chance for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
The effects of smoking on human health are serious and in many cases, deadly. There are approximately 4,000 chemicals in cigarettes, hundreds of which are toxic. The ingredients in cigarettes affect everything from the internal functioning of organs to the efficiency of the body's immune system.
When people think of cancers caused by smoking, the first one that comes to mind is always lung cancer. Most cases of lung cancer death, close to 90 per cent in men, and 80 cent per in women are caused by cigarette smoking. There are several other forms of cancer attributed to smoking as well, and they include cancer of the oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, oesophagus, bladder, stomach, cervix, kidney and pancreas, and acute leukaemia.
The list of additives allowed in the manufacture of cigarettes consists of 599 possible ingredients. When burned, cigarette smoke contains over 4000 chemicals, with over 40 of them being known carcinogens.
Speaking on the issue, the Project Officer, Environmental Rights Action (ERA), Mr Philip Jakpor, said the issue was not about the change in logo.
He said: “The real issue is ensuring that there are appropriate labels that are legible. Health warnings and pictorials that are legible enough and cover at least half of the cigarettes pack. So it is not really the issue of logo. As we know, most of the cigarettes pack that we see bears in the body, 'the Ministry of Health says smoking is injurious to your health.'
“We believe that is not appropriate enough because the tobacco companies have not taken the responsibility seriously. They are not telling you that smoking is dangerous, but they are telling you that the Ministry of Health says so.
“What they should do is to tell us that the product can kill, it can cause cancer, it can cause impotency in men, and that tobacco use leads to diseases affecting the heart and lungs, with smoking being a major risk factor for heart attacks, strokes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), emphysema, and cancer (particularly lung cancer, cancers of the larynx and mouth, and pancreatic cancer). It also causes peripheral vascular disease and hypertension, all developed due to the exposure time and the level of dosage of tobacco. The higher level of tar content in the tobacco filled cigarettes causes the greater risk of these diseases. Due to higher levels of tar content in Third World countries, people who smoke in the developing countries are more vulnerable to diseases. Poorer nations also lack the inclusion of filters that richer nations have. However, the mortality rate does not show a significant decrease due to filters as many people, filter or no filter, die due to the main reason being their addiction and intake of tobacco.”
Jakpor added that Nigeria was signatory and ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). The law on the tobacco health warnings is in Article 11 which requires each party to the FCTC. It requires effective measures to ensure that tobacco products packaging and labelling carry large, rotating health warnings and do not promote tobacco products by false, misleading or deceptive means.
According to him, studies have shown that when people are informed and have the right of choice, they will decide to smoke or not and that when people know the dangers of smoking, they are likely not to smoke, but those who cannot read and write, when they see the bold pictures that are shown on the cigarettes packs, which shows what smoking is likely to result in, they are likely to refrain from smoking.
“But we are operating in the system where those things are not put in place and as such people do not have choice. People will just see beautiful cigarette packs and without reading the content, they start smoking it. “Tobacco companies glamorise smoking. Even in movies, we are made to believe that those who are hyper are actually the ones smoking, but in reality, these things are not so and unfortunately smoking has cut short so many lives, like top musicians, actors, journalists, doctors, commissioners, and top politicians.
“Even in countries like Canada, they make sure they put small pamphlet inside their cigarette packs which read: 'You can quit smoking,' and adds that; 'Tobacco products are highly addictive.' The implication now is your choice on whether to smoke or not. But with the kind of tobacco companies we have in Nigeria and their products, these things are not there, people are not informed rather what they do is to organise smoking parties and encourage people to smoke and called it Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
“Social responsibility is all about giving back to the society. But you can ask yourself what are the tobacco companies giving to the society other than death. What they are giving to the society is death, so if they give death to the society and they go to one community in Oyo State and give the farmers fertiliser, what they are doing is for the farmers to continue to grow their products and they called that CSR.
“So, our position is that Nigeria signed the FCTC and they should be able to domesticate it so that we will be able to reduce the tobacco-related deaths.
“I had an opportunity of talking with a man in Mbodiene in Senegal when I saw his teeth being completely rotten and damaged because of smoking. Merely looking at his teeth, it was all gone, I now asked him, 'Do you know that what you are doing is bad? The man said he knew, but he could not stop smoking.
“I asked him again; “Will you like your children to smoke? He said he would do everything to stop them from smoking.
“In every cigarette stick, you have contents like nicotine which is what get people so addicted to smoking and other deadly chemicals like formaldehyde which is the chemical that is used to preserve dead bodies in the mortuary. We also have carbon monoxide, methane and other dangerous chemicals. Naturally, anybody you tell that a stick of cigarette contains all these dangerous chemicals should be able to withdraw from smoking. But some of them find it very difficult to stop because of the nicotine which is the addictive substance which tobacco companies deliberately infuse in it to get people hooked to it,” Jakpor added.
According to him, WHO says if health warnings and pictorials are on cigarette packs, it will reduce the number of people who smoke because they will now see the contents of what they want to inhale.
The ERA project officer also called for the domestication of the FCTC and its provision which Nigeria signed in 2004 and ratified in 2005.
He said: “Once we domesticate it and start to implement, enforce and monitor it, this will actually help to reduce the number of smokers.
“We succeeded in getting Abuja to go smoke-free last year, now you cannot smoke publicly in Abuja. All over the world, we have what we call smoke-free public places. For instance, people do not smoke in schools, buses, restaurants, parks, even at airports and every other open place. If you travel out of the country, you find out that this is exactly what is happening. It is not that people don't smoke, they do, but they smoke in certain hidden places. But unfortunately, because of the weak laws we have in this country, you see people smoking anywhere they like. But if there is a strong law and the law is enforced like what we did in Abuja which was very successful, Nigeria will a be better place for all to live.”

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Tobacco industry: A question of corporate social irresponsibility

by-Akin Owoeye

I have in recent times observed through newspaper articles the generous activities of tobacco companies, particularly the British American Tobacco (BAT) which claims to be social responsible. Tobacco companies make so much noise about what they do, despite the laid-down rules and procedures on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes. But the truth is, it is normal for any responsible company to engage in CSR.
CSR is an effort to bring corporate values more in line with society's expectations and values. That is, a way for companies to develop a code of conduct and provide accountability to society. It is however my view that legally enforceable mechanisms based on internationally agreed standards in the areas of human, social and environmental rights are necessary to reverse the unsustainable impacts of tobacco companies' activities.
The tobacco companies, through their CSR efforts, attempt to gain credibility and public trust, but their CSR efforts have not demonstrated any positive impact on public health. They give little to host communities and take so much out of them. The industry claims to help tobacco farmers by giving loans, while in actual fact it forces them to grow tobacco for buyers who will provide all inputs. When the cost is deducted from the farmers' earnings, the leftover can hardly be used for anything. Moreover, they sign contracts which they know nothing about, a situation which has kept them mired in abject poverty.
Health threats to tobacco farmers include bladder cancer, allergies or skin disorder (eczema), pesticide exposure, etc. They engage children and women in tobacco farming and expose them to Green tobacco sickness, which involves nicotine poisoning through the skin during cultivation and harvesting. It also causes vomiting or nausea and dizziness or headaches during or after exposure.
While tobacco companies' public advertising has been restricted, much of their CSR is actually indirect advertising. They carry out all sorts of promotions and sponsorships, even when research has shown that industry-sponsored programmes do not work. Tobacco industry youth programmes, for instance, do more harm than good for tobacco control, and should not be allowed to run or be directly funded by tobacco companies. In the same vein, research has also shown that industry-sponsored TV programmes increase exposure to tobacco products.
Several tobacco companies state that they have developed less harmful tobacco products as part of their CSR efforts. However, there is no scientific evidence to prove that these products are less hazardous. Profit continues to be a motivator of all they do.
The truth is that tobacco industry objectives and goals will always remain incompatible with what public health wants. Contrary to standard ways of doing CSR according to Indication Protocols (IP), a product responsibility indicator, organisations are expected to exercise due care in the design of their products and services. This is to ensure they do not pose unintended hazards to health and safety.
In addition, protection of health and safety is a recognised goal of many national and international regulations. So failure to comply with legal requirements indicates either inadequate internal management systems and procedures, or lack of implementation.
BAT's CSR claims to subscribe to the international reporting system, but cannot report on customer health and safety indicators, given that its products kill one-half of its users. Tobacco industry and health promotion goals are also mutually exclusive; hence partnership is impossible.
All told, economic actors (the government, transnational companies) have a huge role to play in protecting, promoting and respecting human, social and environmental rights. Tobacco companies often exercise enormous influence over decision-making in the country, and are rarely held accountable for damaging the environment, harming local communities and forcing workers and tobacco farmers to accept unfair conditions and/or salaries. It is time for companies to be responsible and accountable!

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