Group demands Jonathan’s assent on tobacco bill

The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria has appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan to use this year’s commemoration of the World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) on May 31, to sign the recently passed National Tobacco Control Bill into law.In a statement issued in Lagos and signed by ERA/FoEN Director, Corporate Accountability and Administration, Akinbode Oluwafemi, the group also asked the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu to take the lead in the processes that will ensure that the bill becomes law.

The group said: “Countries all over the world have made specific and strategic efforts to combat the dangers of smoking especially among the youths by putting laws in place to regulate the production and marketing of tobacco products. The enactment of national laws and the domestication of the World Health’s Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) are singular efforts in this direction.

“Nigeria has made gi-ant strides in fulfilling our international obligations by attempting to domesticate the FCTC through the National Tobacco Control Bill, but we are afraid these gains that we have worked for as civil society organisations, legislators and the Ministry of Health will be reversed if the President does not sign this bill to commemorate this year’s WNTD.”

He explained that the theme for this year’s event: “Preventing Industry Inter-ference in Tobacco Control policies,” is very instruc-tive because Nigerians are worried that the bill which was passed with over-whelming public support is yet to be signed into law by the President.

SOURCE

GROUP URGES PRESIDENT TO SIGN TOBACCO BILL

Group faults BATN over investment in Nigeria

The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has faulted claims by British America Tobacco Nigeria (BATN) that its investment in Nigeria has been beneficial to the country.

ERA/FoEN in a statement said it was necessary to put the facts right following remarks by the Managing Director of BATN, Beverley Spencer-Obatoyinbo, at an investment forum last Thursday.

She had said at the forum that the company’s investment initiative in had turned out to be "a win-win situation" for the company and Nigeria.

BATN had in 2001 signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Federal Government to establish a $150 million tobacco factory in Ibadan.

Since then, the company has been targeting young Nigerians in a bid to recruit them as replacement smokers.

It has successfully done this through musical concerts, fashion shows and other promotional events like the Secret Smoking Parties that ERA/FoEN alerted the nation about when the events held in Ajegunle and Victoria Island, both in Lagos.

In a statement in Lagos, ERA/FoEN described the company’s claims as "sheer dishonesty", insisting that BATN continues to rake in profits as Nigerians harvest death and the health burden associated with the failure of the Federal Government to regulate the activities of tobacco companies operating in the country.

ERA/FoEN’s Director, Corporate Accountability and Administration, Akinbode Oluwafemi, said, "It is extremely fallacious and vexing for BATN to describe its stranglehold on the huge and largely uninformed Nigerian consumer market as a win-win situation.

‘’That remark is unfortunate and can be likened to a victory song by a company that has an avowed mission of conscripting new smokers through the glamorization of a deadly product."

Oluwafemi noted that: "For instance, in Lagos, one among the Nigerian states targeted by BATN for its image blitz, a 2006 survey in 11 government-owned hospitals revealed that at least two persons die daily from a tobacco-related disease.

‘’The survey also revealed that the Lagos government expends at least N216, 000 treating each of the 9,527 tobacco related cases documented while individual patient spends an additional N70,000."

Oluwafemi reiterated ERA/FoEN demand for the signing of the National Tobacco Control Bill (NTCB) by President Goodluck Jonathan.

SOURCE

World Cancer Day: ERA/FoEN asks Jonathan to pass tobacco bill

As the world marks the World Cancer Day commemorated February 4 annually, the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has asked President Goodluck Jonathan to append his signature to the National Tobacco Control Bill (NTCB) passed by the Senate and concurred by the House of Representatives last year, to avoid needless deaths arising from tobacco use.

The World Cancer Day is a global observance that helps to raise people’s awareness of cancer and how to prevent, detect or treat it. The 2012 event has as its theme: “Together It Is Possible.”

In marking the event, the World Health Organisation (WHO) calls on the global community to address the world’s growing cancer burden and work on effective control measures.

Cancer is a leading cause of death around the world. The WHO says it accounted for 7.6 million deaths (around 13 per cent of all deaths) in 2008 and estimates point to the fact that 84 million people will die of cancer between 2005 and 2015 without intervention. Low-income and medium-income countries are harder hit by cancer than the high-resource countries.

In a statement issued in Lagos, ERA/FoEN said the 2012 event was another reminder to the Federal Government on the need to honour its commitments to ensuring the health and wellbeing of its citizens.

“The World Cancer Day is another opportunity to raise awareness on tobacco-related deaths which has not only robbed this nation of great minds, but also adds to the huge health burden of the nation,” said ERA/FoEN Director, Corporate Accountability and Administration, Akinbode Oluwafemi.

“While we feel worried about the delay in the presidential assent, we reiterate our belief that the president’s signature on this far-reaching law will stem needless deaths arising from this deadly product glamorized by the tobacco industry.”

“There is no other time than now for the president to reverse the gale of deaths induced by tobacco products and write his name in the annals of this nation has one who sided with public health. This opportunity should not be left unutilized,” Oluwafemi noted.

The Senate had in a unanimous vote in 2011 passed the Bill which was sponsored by Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora representing Lagos East Senatorial District. The Senate version was concurred by the House of Representatives on May 31, 2011.

The bill domesticates the W.H.O-initiated Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), a global standard for tobacco control. Its major highlights include: Ban on single sticks sale of cigarettes; ban on tobacco advertisement, sponsorship and promotions, ban on selling cigarettes to persons under the age of 18; ban on smoking of tobacco products in public places which includes airports and public buildings; and ban on selling single stick cigarettes, among others.

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

Smoking: Costly habit, captive addicts

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared smoking injurious to health but smokers are still puffing away. OSEYIZA OOGBODO takes a look into this highly addictive practice and its attending dangers.
Smoking for a long time has donned a toga of controversy as to its religious, social, economic and health implications. But, some time ago, the World Health Organisation (WHO) ruled: smoking is injurious to health.

Regardless of this development and the attending compliance at tobacco smoking reduction practically the world over, Nigeria’s case is peculiar: her residents keep smoking in both designated and undesignated areas as if unaware of the WHO proclamation. Betty Abah, an anti-smoking advocate, who is a member of the tobacco control team of the NGO, Environmental Rights Action (ERA) confirms that Nigerian smoking is actually on the increase. “According to the World Health Organisation’s global report two years ago, tobacco use is on the increase in the country especially among young women. It’s not to say women smoke more here, but it implies that more and more women are taking up the habit. It is especially so in tertiary institutions, which is a sad case because the impact of tobacco on the female body is faster and even more deadly than on their male counterparts.”

Getting cigarettes in Nigeria is very easy since they are available on virtually every street through those who have stalls and sitting areas for their cigarette purchasers who want to smoke right at the point of purchase. There are also beer parlours, general goods traders and traditional liquor sellers who offer the popular cigarette brands. Those who are in a hurry smoke while walking along the street. Funny enough, there is a Nigerian law that bans smoking in public places just like in most countries across the world. But it doesn’t seem effective going by the volume of public smoking.

Abah sheds light on the law. “Yes, the law is embedded in the new National Tobacco Control Bill. Public places are supposed to be smoke-free so as to safe-guard the health of non-smokers and also to reduce the general smoking rate. And, by public places, we mean places like restaurants, schools, airports, offices, any enclosed place where people gather. Public places in this context are not roadsides, streets or highways. However, the bill is awaiting Presidential Assent to make it a legal law.”

But even as smoking is rampant, be it in the day or night, there is a method to it. Men can smoke publicly anywhere they like during the day. It is however very difficult to see women smoking publicly in the daytime. But it is not as if they too don’t smoke in the daytime, but they do so in seclusion. For instance, at an event recently, a popular female fashion designer who needed to smoke her favourite brand of cigarette had to hide in a toilet to do so while men smoked care freely in the lobby in full public view. Yet, many of the smokers can’t do so in front of their parents, bosses, landlords and people they look up to because the Nigerian society frowns heavily on smoking. Once a person is known as a smoker, he is most times labelled a doubtful character, hence not taken seriously and treated with condescension. So if a man sometimes faces tribulation because he smokes, a woman who is known to smoke will face quite a tougher time of stigmatisation.

Such is the danger smoking is that it is clearly stated on cigarette packs that smokers are liable to die young. And death is what most humans fear most. If most humans had a choice, they wouldn’t want to die. But some of these same humans prefer to smoke even when they had been warned that smoking could kill them. As smoking is a terrible hazard to smokers themselves, the threat of second hand smoke (non-smokers inhaling cigarette smoke) is probably what is making experts make concrete moves to enforce a ban on smoking in public places. But as a matter of courtesy, people don’t really complain when they see people smoking even when the smell irritates them.

At a press conference to mark the 2008 World Heart Day, Prof. Ayodele Omotoso and Prof. Wale Oke, said, “Government should as a matter of urgency prohibit the habit of smoking in public places as cardiovascular experts have discovered effect of smoking is more harmful to non-smokers than actual smokers.” The issue of smoking is a very strange one, to say the least. Oluwagbohunmi Balogun, a committed chain smoker, says, “I love smoking. I can say I love it more than any other thing on earth.” He however concurs that “I never knew I would be a smoker, though. It is not something I can say that I planned to do. Somehow, it happened and I’m in love with it now.

“That I’m smoking sometimes makes me laugh when I think back to when I was in secondary school. I was a boarder and my seniors who used to smoke would send me to buy cigarettes and say I should smoke with them. Back then, I always refused, because if I had accepted, they would have taken me to the Senior Prefect and reported me that I was smoking and he would have punished me.” Balogun had a further funny tale to recount. “What’s even surprising to me again is that my friends and I who refused to smoke then in boarding school all met up later and we had all started smoking without anyone forcing us the way our seniors were doing but we were scared then so as not to become known as smokers by our teachers and the entire school.”

Such is Balogun’s addiction to smoking a particular brand that he complains if such is presented to him in the pack of another. “It affects the taste,” was his explanation. “Maybe it’s because I don’t smoke any other brand.” Even as Balogun is proud of his smoking habit, Peter, a bass guitarist, regrets his brief romance with smoking. “I used to smoke a lot. Then when I began coughing out white portions of my innards, I knew I had to stop or die. I stopped, but it wasn’t easy, though. I kept returning to it until God took control finally.”

Ayo-Martins

Like Peter, Jare Ayo-Martins, co-presenter/ producer of popular Yoruba TV magazine programme, Owuro Lawa, is also an ex-smoker. “I started smoking when I was in my teens. I began smoking due to peer group pressure.” However, after 12 years of smoking, Ayo-Martins stopped. “I stopped because it wasn’t doing me any good.” When Saturday Mirror asked him if it was perhaps affecting his health, he refuted it, and then added, “The anti-smoking sensitization campaigns also made me realize the need to stop.” He however admitted that he wasn’t a chain smoker. “I was just a normal smoker. The most I ever smoked in a day was four sticks. I never smoked a pack in a day.” Now, Ayo-Martins says of smoking: “It doesn’t do any good, so smokers should stop, but it’s difficult to stop.”

SOURCE

Transmit tobacco bill for presidential assent, ERA tells NASS

The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth (ERA/FoEN) has asked the National Assembly to immediately transmit the recently passed National Tobacco Control Bill to the Presidency for signing into law in order to save millions of lives endangered by tobacco use.

In a release issued in Lagos and signed by the Director Corporate Accountability & Administration, Akinbode Oluwafemi, the group warned that failure to send the bill to the President for his signature would have negative consequences for public health in Nigeria and roll back any gains made by the passage of the bill in the first instance.

ERA/FOEN’s call is coming on the heels of a similar call by the American Cancer Society (ACS) for comprehensive policy to tackle the cancer epidemic in developing countries. The ACS made the call in New York at a meeting to deliberate on the United Nations High Level Meeting on Non Communicable Diseases (NCD).

The ACS said tobacco use in developing countries account for about 80 per cent of all cancer deaths.

“The two chambers of the National Assembly have put the health of Nigerians above partisan politics and profits of the tobacco multinationals by passing into law the National Tobacco Control Bill. It will be a waste of public resources expended into the process and a betrayer of public health if the Principal Officers in the National Assembly fail to transmit the bill to the president for signing.”



SOURCE

A VOTE FOR PUBLIC HEALTH

Why President Must Sign Anti-Tobacco Bill

ERA praises Reps over concurrent passage of Tobacco Bill

The Environmental Rights Action/ Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has commended the concurrent passage of the National Tobacco Control Bill by the House of Representatives yesterday, describing it as a milestone in the history of public health in Nigeria.

The passage of the Bill by both the Senate and House of Representatives has also placed Nigeria on the global map of countries that have domesticated the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). ERA/FoEN Director of Senate and House of Representatives, Akinbode Oluwafemi said: “We commend the forthrightness of the House of Representatives for seizing the opportunity of this year’s commemoration of the World No Tobacco Day to give this nation a law with far-reaching consequences on our well-being. Though this took long to come, we are in no doubt that this bill will stem the gale of tobacco -related deaths.

“We cheer the House of Representatives and the honourable lawmakers who deemed it fit to stamp their feet in the annals of history by passing a bill which will reduce smoking and its attendant health risks. This House of Representatives will also be remembered for taking a bold step that will safeguard the health of Nigerians today and in the future.” He however urged the President to quickly append his signature to the Tobacco Law and the prompt constitution of a National Tobacco Control Committee which will guide its enforcement.

SOURCE

Reps stop work on PIB, pass tobacco bill

Senate, ACN ask Jonathan to reposition security agencies

 THE House of Representatives yesterday at plenary session stopped further consideration of the report submitted by its joint Committee on Petroleum (Upstream and Downstream) Gas Resources and Justice on the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).

But the House passed the Tobacco Control Bill, a move hailed by the Nigerian Heart Foundation (NHF) and activists under the aegis of Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) that described the passage as a milestone in the history of public health in the country.
The passage of the Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora-led sponsored Bill by both Houses of Assembly, following similar passage by the Senate on March 15, 2011, has also placed Nigeria on the global map of countries that have domesticated the Frame-work Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), ERA/FoEN Director of Corporate Accountability and Administration, Akinbode Oluwafemi, said in a statement.

The development came as humanity marked the World No Tobacco Day 2011 (WNTD) yesterday.
The NHF said the Bill will ensure the reversal of increasing deaths and the protection of non-smoking public from the dangers associated with cigarette smoking, and urged President Goodluck Jonathan to speedily assent to the Bill so that it can become a law.


.... CONT'D @ SOURCE

ERA lauds Reps over passage of Tobacco Bill

•As world celebrates tobacco treaty

ENVIRONMENTAL Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has commended the House of Representatives for giving concurrent passage to the National Tobacco Control Bill, sponsored by Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora, describing it as a milestone in the history of public health in the country.

The bill was passed by the Senate on March 15, but the House of Representatives yesterday passed it into law, through a concurred resolution.

The passage of the National Tobacco Control Bill by both houses of the National Assembly has also placed Nigeria on the global map of countries that have domesticated the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

ERA/FoEN’s Director of Corporate Accountability and Administration, Akinbode Oluwafemi, said: “We commend the forthrightness of the House of Reps for seizing the opportunity of this year’s commemoration of the World No Tobacco Day to give this nation a law with far-reaching consequences on our well being. Though this took long to come, we are in no doubt that this bill will stem the gale of tobacco-related deaths.

“We cheer the House of Reps and the honourable lawmakers who deemed it fit to stamp their feet in the annals of history by passing a bill which will reduce smoking and its attendant health risks. This House of Reps will also be remembered for taking a bold step that will safeguard the health of Nigerians today and in the future.”

He, however, urged President Goodluck Jonathan to quickly append his signature to the Tobacco Law and to promptly constitute a National Tobacco Control Committee, which would guide its enforcement.

The National Tobacco Control Bill, when signed into law by the President, will repeal the Tobacco Control Smoking Act of 1990, which was promulgated under the military and championed by former Health Minister, the late Prof. Olikoye Ransome-Kuti.

Oluwafemi said that the current bill was a comprehensive law providing for regulations of supply and demand measures of tobacco products.

Meanwhile, the global community yesterday commemorated the World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) with this year’s focus on a new International Consortium of Investigative Journalists’ report exposing Big Tobacco’s tactics to interfering with world’s first public health and corporate accountability treaty.

SOURCE

Group commends lawmakers over passage of Tobacco Bill

The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), a nongovernmental organisation (NGO), has commended the concurrent passage of the National Tobacco Control Bill by the House of Representatives on Tuesday. It described as a milestone in the history of public health in Nigeria.

As the world marked the World No Tobacco Day on the 31st of May, the Lower House gave concurrent passage to the bill, which was sponsored by Olorunnimbe Mamora (ACN - Lagos East) and had been passed by the Senate on March 15, 2011.

A laudable move

The passage of the bill by both Houses has also placed Nigeria on the global map of countries that have domesticated the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the group pointed out.

“We commend the forthrightness of the House of Reps for seizing the opportunity of this year’s commemoration of the World No Tobacco Day to give this nation a law with far-reaching consequences on our wellbeing,” said Akinbode Oluwafemi, ERA/FoEN’s director of corporate accountability & administration.

“Though this took long to come, we are in no doubt that this bill will stem the gale of tobacco-related deaths,” continued Mr Oluwafemi. “We cheer the House of Reps and the honourable lawmakers who deemed it fit to stamp their feet in the annals of history by passing a bill which will reduce smoking and its attendant health risks.

“This House of Reps will also be remembered for taking a bold step that will safeguard the health of Nigerians today and in the future,” Mr Oluwafemi added.

He, however, urged the President to append his signature without delay to the Tobacco Law and also see to the prompt constitution of a National Tobacco Control Committee to guide its enforcement.

The National Tobacco Control Bill repeals the Tobacco Control Smoking Act of 1990, which was promulgated under the military and championed by former health minister, late Olikoye Ransome Kuti. The current bill is a comprehensive law providing for regulations of supply and demand measures relating to tobacco products.

SOURCE

Reps pass National Tobacco Control Bill

•Environmentalists urge Jonathan to assent bill 

The House of Representatives yesterday gave concurrent passage to the National Tobacco Control Bill.

The passage, which coincided with the World No Tobacco Day, was a wholesale adoption of the bill as passed by the Senate on March 15.

The bill sponsored by Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora is a domestication of the World Health Organisation’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) ratified by the country.

When signed into law, it bans illicit trade in tobacco products; sales to and by minors; and support for economically viable alternative activities.

It also offers protection of public health policies from the vested interests of the tobacco industry; protection of the environment; national coordinating mechanism; international cooperation, reporting and exchange of information and institutional arrangements.

In a statement the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) commended the concurrent passage of the bill, describing it as a milestone in the history of public health in Nigeria.

ERA/FoEN Director of Corporate Accountability & Administration, Akinbode Oluwafemi urged President Goodluck Jonathan to sign the bill into law.

He said: " This House of Representatives will be remembered for taking a bold step that will safeguard the health of Nigerians today and in the future."

SOURCE

Tobacco epidemic may kill 6 million people –WHO

The World Health Organisation has estimated that about six million people will die this year from tobacco smoking including 600,000 non-smokers who will die from exposure to tobacco smoke.

In a news statement issued by the global body on Monday as part of activities to mark the World NO Tobacco Day on Tuesday, the organisation also warned that the tobacco epidemic could kill eight million and half of all tobacco users would eventually die of tobacco related disease.

The WHO Director-General, Dr Margaret Chan, noted that although the organisation had recorded some success with its Framework Convention on Tobacco Control , one of the challenges remained for the public health treaty to reach its full potential as the world’s most powerful tobacco control tool.

Chan said, “More needs to be done for the treaty to achieve its full potential. It is not enough to become a party to the treaty. Countries must also pass, or strengthen the necessary implementing legislation and then rigorously enforce it. The treaty’s ultimate success against the tobacco industry depends on the extent to which the parties meet all of their obligations,”

Meanwhile, a non-governmental organisation, Environmental Rights Action of Nigeria, has ccommended the House of Representatives for adopting the National Tobacco Control Bill on Tuesday.

According to the Director of ERA, Mr. Akinbode Oluwafemi, the Senate had passed the Bill since March 15 and the concurrent passage from the lawmakers would ensure that it became a law when the President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, accents to the Bill.

Oluwafemi, who spoke in Lagos On Tuesday in celebration of the World No Tobacco Day programme with the theme, “Framework Convention on Tobacco Control,” said the final passage of the Bill would would help fight tobacco addiction.

“The Bill is a veritable tool that will help Nigeria to fight a deadly addiction, thereby protecting many lives and saving costs in Medicare.”

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Activists seek control law as World marks No Tobacco Day

NIGERIA would make a significant statement on global environmental right to good health, if the House of Representatives concurrently pass the National Tobacco Control Bill (NTCB) today to commemorate the “World No Tobacco Day” (WNTD) 2011, according to environment activists.

The stakeholders said the law would mark the implementation of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) treaty, which reaffirmed the right of all people to highest standard of health and regulatory strategy at addressing addictive substances.

The activists, under the aegis of Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) said in Lagos yesterday that the passage of the bill would mark a wonderful gift to all Nigerians and the entire public health community globally.

In a statement to mark the day, ERA/FoEN wrote: “As we celebrate the WNTD, we call on the respected honourable members of the House of Representatives to again rise to the occasion of this national call to service and ensure that the fundamentals of governance, which is the protection of the health and provision of welfare and security to the people, is enforced.”

Programme Manager ERA, Akinbode Oluwafemi, added that apart from the “five-minute” task before the House of Representatives; “we are also urging immediate accent by the President, prompt constitution of the National Tobacco Control Committee, mass education of the citizen as regards their rights and obligation as regards the law.”

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Group calls for passage of Tobacco Control Bill

As the world marks World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) today, an appeal has gone to the National Assembly to ensure the passage of the National Tobacco Control Bill. Speaking yesterday at a press conference in Lagos, the Director of Corporate Campaign, Environment Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA), Akinbode Oluwafemi, urged the National to pass the bill before it winds up this week.

 

Oluwafemi said: “The passage of the bill will mark a wonderful gift to all Nigerians and the public health community globally.” He said the bill is in line with the World Health Organisation’s treaty which is the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), adding that the lawmakers should waste no time in ensuring the bill becomes a law.

“Efforts to arrest the problem of tobacco smoking must be global in scope and perspective. Tobacco is a killer. It kills half of its users. It currently kills about six million people in year. Latest projection says by 2030, it will be killing 10 million people a year,” Oluwafemi said.

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Group reiterates call for Tobacco Law

As the world marks the ‘World No Tobacco Day' today, the anti-tobacco group, the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), has restated its call for the signing of the National Tobacco Control Bill into law.

Commemorated on the 31st of May of every year, the theme of this year's event is ‘The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC)'.

The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the first treaty to be negotiated under the auspices of the World Health Organisation, is an evidence-based treaty that reaffirms the right of all people to the highest standard of health. It is also the first regulatory strategy to address addictive substances.

The treaty entered into force in February 2006 while Nigeria signed and ratified it in 2004 and 2005 respectively.

"The choice of this year's theme cannot be more emphatic, given the current situations in Nigeria regarding our quest to ratify the FCTC by way of a domestic law," said Akinbode Oluwafemi, director of corporate campaigns at ERA/FoEN, in a chat with journalists to commemorate the event on Monday, in Lagos.

"This year, tobacco control groups all over the world will be reappraising their stand in regard to the provisions of the FCTC," Mr Oluwafemi said.

‘Concur the bill'

The National Tobacco Control Bill, which had been passed by the Senate in March this year, has just passed the first reading in the House of Representatives.

"Essentially, what we are saying is that rather than being bogged down by the politics of the two Houses, we are saying that this is a national call and what we need is just a concurrence," said Mr Oluwafemi.

"What we are doing now is to tell you we don't want it to pass through first, second and third readings because we have just three days," noted Mr Oluwafemi, on the time before the expiration of the tenure of the current members of the House.

"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.' Let them concur this bill because it has to be law. We just need very little effort now to get to where we need," Mr Oluwafemi added.

The anti-tobacco activist also insisted that the tobacco control bill, contrary to public perception, "is not an attack on smokers."

"Let me tell you that most smokers in the world actually want to quit. No survey that has been done among smokers that doesn't show 40 - 60 per cent support for Tobacco Control law because they are actually looking for motivation to be able to get out of smoking," he said.

"A lot of them that have started do not want their children to smoke, that is very clear. This not an attack on anybody. We think that it is rather they should help us to ensure that they get out of tobacco addiction," he added.

Awareness on dangers of smoking

The ‘World No Tobacco Day' is commemorated every year to create mass awareness about the dangers of smoking and to pressure governments and policy makers on the need to curb deaths and ill-health caused by smoking. Latest projections estimate that by 2030, tobacco-related deaths would rise to 10 million people a year.

"We are hoping and are believing God and we are counting on the integrity of these people that the bill will be passed because we know the amount of resources that have been committed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate, that they would not allow this effort to go wasted.

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Environmentalists urge Reps to pass Tobacco Control Bill today

•Mark World No Tobacco Day

The Environmental Rights Action (ERA) yesterday urged the House Representatives to pass the National Tobacco Control Bill (NTCB) today.

Its Director, Corporate Accountability and Administration Mr Akinbode Oluwafemi, said the House of Representatives would make history by passing the bill on the day the world is making the World No Tobacco Day (WNTD).

He said the passage and assent of the bill would discourage tobacco use, a habit responsible for half of the death of its users worldwide.

He spoke to reporters yesterday during the organisation’s World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) programme in Lagos. The theme of today’s World No Tobacco Day is the World Health Organisation (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

Oluwafemi said the House of Representatives passed a Tobacco Control Bill in 2008, sponsored by Hon Friday Itular and Bassey Etim, adding that the Bill did not address the critical issues of tobacco use.

Tobacco use needs to be controlled because it is a public health concern, he added.

Oluwafemi said failure by the House of Representatives to pass the Bill would amount to wastage of taxpayers’ money, because the incoming lawmakers would have to commence the process from start.

"If they don’t pass the Bill before the end of their tenure, they would have to start the process of the passage from scratch which has economic effect on the country," he said.

Oluwafemi said the Bill conforms to the WHO/FCTC, adding that tobacco currently kills about six million people annually. "It is projected that it will kill 10 million people by 2030," he said.

He added: "The Bill from the Senate has passed first reading in the House. Let me on behalf of tobacco control groups in Nigeria salute the zeal and enthusiasm already shown by the sponsors of the bill and the House. This has given us the hope that the House will once again rise up to this challenge and concurs to the bill from the Senate.

"It is also noteworthy to mention that all the provisions raised in the bill by Hon Itular and Etim have also been comprehensively addressed by the bill from the Senate in order to ensure that it conforms with the standards recommended by the FCTC

"The bill has taken into cognisance every aspect of tobacco control and devised ways to protect our people from the dangers associated with smoking."

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