MAKE TOBACCO BILL LAW

WORLD NO TOBACCO DAY 2011 - ERA MAKES CASE FOR ENFORCEMENT OF TOBACCO CONTROL LAWS

WORLD NO TOBACCO DAY 2011 - ERA MAKES CASE FOR THE ENFORCEMENT OF TOBACCO CONTROL BILL LAWS

The Tobacco Control Bill

RECENTLY, the Senate passed, to replace the Tobacco Smoking Control Act (1990), the Tobacco Control Bill that has been inching its way through the legislative process for more than two years.  This  legislation provides for, among other  things, a ban  on  tobacco advertising, sponsorship  and promotion,  forbids the sale of cigarette to persons  below age 18, bans  smoking in public places, and regulates the  manufacture, distribution  and marketing of  tobacco products in  Nigeria.

The passage of this bill is  certainly a vote in favour of  public health  for it is common knowledge today that  tobacco  consumption,  be it  by smoking, chewing, or snuffing, is  injurious one way or other, to the health of the  direct consumer, and, in the particular case of smoking, the health of  other persons nearby (that is second-hand  consumers). Besides,  the enactment of  a Tobacco Control law is, not only consistent with the modern trend of health consciousness  across the globe, it is also in line with the World Health Organisation’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, a treaty developed  to arrest the  growing use of tobacco and its attendant threat to public health around the world. It has been in force since early 2005 and it must be noted, Nigeria is a signatory to it.

The case for a strong legislation against tobacco use is indeed compelling not the least because it is harmful to health. It has been conclusively proven that tobacco use has direct causative relation to respiratory and heart diseases, and emphysema, a type of lung disease in the case of smoking, mouth and gum diseases in the case of chewing, and nose and related diseases in the case of snuffing. The addictive nature of tobacco use also fosters substance dependence.  Some records state that nearly five million people die every year of tobacco-linked diseases. Indirectly, second hand smoking endangers the health of non-smokers who must suffer the offensive effect of cigarette smoke in the environment and violates their fundamental right.

Time there was when smoking was fashionable and considered a ‘class thing’ such that to use tobacco whichever way was considered a sign of maturity. Indeed, a smoking aficionado would dedicate special ‘smoking rooms’ equipped with diverse paraphernalia – water pipes, lighters,  spittoons, ash trays, even smoking jackets,  smoking hats and slippers –  all designed to heighten the pleasure of the pastime.

Nevertheless, over the centuries, the negative effects of this ‘pastime’ have also for long been acknowledged, condemned, and legislated against by both spiritual and secular authorities.  In 1590, Pope Urban VII issued a papal bull against the use of tobacco “in the porch-way of, or inside the church, whether it be by chewing it, smoking it with a pipe or sniffing it in powdered form through the nose”.  King James I of England, in 1604, wrote in ‘A Counterblast to Tobacco’ a stinging – and perceptive – criticism of the habit of tobacco use describing it as “a custome loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the lungs, and in the black stinking fume thereof, nearest resembling the horrible Stigian smoke of the pit that is bottomless”.

Elsewhere, in the Ottoman empire,  Sultan Murad IV who ruled  1623- 1640  decreed smoking as a capital offence while in old Russia,  anyone caught smoking had his nose cut off. Obviously then anti-tobacco use sentiment is not a recent development. Unfortunately, in modern times, the tobacco industry has amassed a hefty war chest with which, for long and until recently, it lobbied  the powers that be in favour of its business.  But, under pressure in the increasingly health-conscious developed countries, it has shifted business and lobby to developing countries such as Nigeria.

Since 1999, the industry has enlarged its presence and operations in our country, complete with an effective marketing strategy and well-oiled public relations machinery that working hand in glove with government, plays up the benefits of job creation and economic contributions to the nation as worthwhile values added to Nigeria and its people.  But these justifications are of lesser value compared to the immense short and long-term costs to human and environmental health. It is gratifying that the Tobacco Control Bill is in its final stage despite the odds. However, how does government square the circle of allowing the tobacco industry to continue in business in the face of the coming law?

We would think that a nation of healthy citizens is of greater value to Nigeria than capital. We urge government to stand firm for the public good by enforcing the spirit and letter of this  pro-health legislation. We also suggest a steep ‘sin tax’ on tobacco  to make the habit increasingly too expensive to sustain. Such  revenue in turn should be spent to  run medical facilities  that treat  tobacco-generated  diseases.

More effort should also be devoted to public enlightenment campaigns on the risks of tobacco use.

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Imperatives for a smoke free Nigeria

On March 15, 2011, the Senate had in a unanimous vote passed the National Tobacco Control bill which was sponsored by Senator Olorunimbe Mamora representing Lagos East Senatorial District. By this act, it is now a punishable offence to engaged in smoking in public places. The current bill is a comprehensive law providing for regulations of supply and demand measures of tobacco products. The bill was presented on the floor of the senate for second reading in February 2009 and a public hearing was conducted in July 2009 before its eventual passage. The National Tobacco Control Bill (NTCB) repeals the Tobacco Control smoking Act of 1990, which was promulgated under the military and championed by former Health Minister, late Olikoye Ransome Kuti.

Nigerians have waited patiently, for our constitutional and God given rights for a smoke free environment and protection of the weak and venerable in the society against second hand smoke, which the National Tobacco Control Bill is set to enforce. The Nigeria Senate has risen to protect public health and etched its name in gold under the leadership of Senator David Mark for passing the National tobacco control bill. The bill will ensure a reversal of increasing deaths.

The need to protect the non smoking public from the dangers associated with cigarette smoking makes it necessary for the enforcement of the ban of smoking in public places. There is overwhelming medical evidence that shows exposure to second hand smoke can cause diseases and death. Second hand smoking is a combination of the smoke which a smoker exhales and the one that comes out of the burning end of a cigarette.

Also known as the Environmental Tobacco Smoke (EST), it is a mixture of about 4,000 cancer causing chemicals that are extremely harmful to the body. It has been established that for every eight smokers who die, one innocent bystander also dies from second hand smoke and if one is exposed to second hand smoke for about 2 hours, then the person must have smoked an equivalent of four cigarettes. Second hand smoke is as deadly as the real tobacco smoke.

But we should not rest on our oars after this victory. This is just the beginning of the campaign for a totally smoke free Nigeria and the defense of the constitutional and God given rights to live in a safe environment. Massive media enlightenment campaign to inform residents about the enforcement of the provisions of this bill should begin now. Also, there is need to educate the Nigeria police to monitor compliance with the ban. But the greatest responsibility is on every resident of Nigeria to make sure that the law is strictly adhered to. To ensure our nation is completely smoke free, we must jointly monitor the implementation of the ban on smoking in public places.

A smoke free Nigeria will put public health above profits made from selling cigarettes. It will reduce the rate of smoking especially among the young and underage people. Smoke free public places will even make the environment clean and residents can breathe safe air. It will also help towards achieving the Millennium Development Goal (MDG), of having poverty halved by 2015, because money spent on tobacco product will be help provide food and shelters for families.

The bill is also an affirmation of commitment of Nigeria to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). It is an international tobacco control treaty developed by the World Health Organization (WHO). The treaty was built on the evidence from different country experiences which formed the recommendations in developing the FCTC. It requires all ratifying countries to adopt effectives smoke free policies. The FCTC has been ratified by over 150 countries including Nigeria.

Article 8 clearly states that "Each part shall adopt and implement in area of existing national jurisdiction as determined by national law and actively promote the adoption and implementation of effective legislative, executive, administration and/ or other measures providing for protection from exposure to tobacco smoke in indoor workplaces, public transport, indoor public places and as appropriate, other public places"

Everyone has the right to breathe clean air, free from the proven dangers of second hand smoke. Second hand smoke is a proven health hazard, not just a nuisance. Nigeria should go smoke free.

-Owoeye Akinsola

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The tobacco control bill

As the elections inch closer, the Senate last week passed a bill that will eventually give Nigeria one of the strongest anti-tobacco laws on the continent. Sponsored by Olorunimbe Mamora, a senator (Lagos East) on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria, the bill is called the Nigerian Tobacco Control Bill.

It’s essential components include: raising a National Tobacco Control Committee to shape the future of tobacco control policies and guide implementation; A comprehensive ban on smoking in public places, and the sale of cigarettes by or to minors; and detailed specifications on points of sale notice. That is not all, however. The bill has finally given legal backing to a directive by the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) which a few years ago banned all sorts of advertisement, sponsorship, promotion, testimonials and brand stretching of tobacco products across the country.

The bill is also to ensure that health messages cover 50 per cent of the areas where tobacco products are to be displayed, while the minister of health is empowered to prescribe pictures or pictogram and ensure that the law is effectively implemented. As it is now, the bill has only been passed by the Senate. It is to be sent to the House of Representatives which will hopefully pass it before it goes to Goodluck Jonathan for his assent. We at NEXT do not expect the House to have any fundamental disagreement with the version that has been passed by the Senate.

The upper house had, in the two years the bill was with it, ensured that all the stakeholders – civil society groups, tobacco manufacturers, health experts and the general public – had their say at the public hearings that preceded the debates and the passing of the bill. Mainly, the Nigeria Tobacco Control bill domesticates the World Health Organisation (WHO) initiated Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). The treaty is the first global health treaty which is mandatory on all WHO members. Nigeria has signed and ratified the treaty.

We commend this step by the Senate and plead with the House not to water down this laudable bill. Passing it into law could help this set of lawmakers become one of the most proactive to have passed through the hallowed chambers. It is a great contribution to public health. We make this appeal because we know that tobacco products have for several years wreaked havoc on our people. This is our opportunity to curb this terrible scourge.

A few years ago, some states like Lagos, Gombe, Kano and Oyo sued some tobacco companies, asking them to pay billions of naira for the damages their products had caused their citizens. For instance, Lagos sued for ₦2.7 trillion claiming that research carried out by its staff in hospitals across the state show that at least two people die daily owing to tobacco-related diseases; and that the state had recorded about 20 per cent increase in the smoking rate over the past two decades with reported cases of 9,527 tobacco-related diseases in government-run hospitals monthly, in one of Nigeria’s most populous states.

This is a high figure and a high price to pay for a disease with a cause that is known and preventable. And that is only for a state that has cared to carry out research on what it costs it to treat tobacco-related diseases.

We salute the doggedness of Mr. Mamora, the civil group Environmental Rights Action (ERA), the United States based Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (CTFK), the media and other groups that fought for the enactment of this bill. However, the fight will not simply be over because the House and the President assented to it. Implementation of the clauses of the bill must be monitored and adhered to. Only then would it help our public health and protect us from the fatal tobacco-related diseases.

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CHECKING SMOKING

THE Senate has passed the National Tobacco Control Bill, which puts a ban on tobacco adverts, smoking in the public places, and under-age smoking, among other things. The passage of this bill is unique for two reasons. First, it is a piece of legislation that addresses both the sanctity of human health and wellbeing on the one hand, and the problematic interface between the demands of human subsistence and the need for natural balance in the eco-system within our environment.

Second, it serves as an affirmation of the commitment of Nigeria to the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) initiated Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC); a global treaty.

The seriousness and commitment of Nigeria to the international convention on tobacco control as demonstrated by the passage of the National Tobacco Control Bill has portrayed the country in good light, being in the league of countries making concerted efforts towards promoting clean and sustainable ecosystem. The world has shown considerable concern for the environment. In addition, the passage of the bill is a pointer to a positive change in international diplomacy, and favourable attitude towards international conventions and treaties signed and ratified by Nigeria. In the past, such conventions, even when ratified, remained mere promissory obligation not backed by any enforceable Nigerian law.

Without doubt, the debate leading to the passage of the bill, two years after its introduction at the floor of the parliament, must have weathered long and stormy sessions with the inevitable debacle between social and high moral philosophical claims of the puritans, and the purely economic-cum-business interest protagonists. Moreover, considering the tobacco market configuration and business opportunities in Nigeria, the bill could not have been passed without the interference and disturbing menace of lobbyists who would have done everything possible to make sure the bill was never passed into law.

It is against this background that we commend the legislators for the passage of the National Tobacco Control Bill. However, laws, no matter how elegantly codified, do not implement themselves, and the tobacco bill is no exception. We call on the Nigeria Police to educate its officers and men on what constitute the essentials in the new law. This is crucial to forestall unnecessary harassment, and or, arrest of innocent citizens by men of the Nigeria Police Force. The new legislation must not turn to a ‘cash-cow’ for the ‘few’ unscrupulous officers and men of the police.

Besides, to reap the utmost benefits from the newly enacted law, relevant agencies of governments must embark upon massive public enlightenment campaign at all levels to ensure awareness, and reasonable compliance.

It is reasonable to project that the effect of this legislation on tobacco control will yield positive result, i.e. a significant reduction in the recorded incidence of diseases that have cigarette smoking and tobacco- related substance as their major causal factor. Unfortunately, because of lack of functional and credible medical statistics, we may not be able to quantify the benefits in monetary terms; but for sure, the burden of medical care will become so light for everyone, when more people become aware of the medical implications of tobacco smoking or chewing as the case may be.

However, when the new legislation is stripped of its legal coatings, the inevitable but cruel reality is that people (Nigerians) in their hundreds will lose either their jobs or means of livelihood over time. The picture is not rosy, especially, when we consider that the labour market is already saturated with desperate and despondent applicants. The Federal Government will do well to step up its marshal plans to provide jobs for the country’s teeming, able-bodied, willing, but unemployed youths and adults.

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ERA lauds Senate over passage of Tobacco Control Bill

THE Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has commended the Senate over yesterday’s passage of the National Tobacco Control Bill, saying the legislative house has delivered a major public health tool that will save the lives of millions of Nigerians from tobacco-induced deaths.

ERA/FoEN Director of Campaigns, Akinbode Oluwafemi said: “We salute the courage of the Nigerian Senate for giving this nation a strong tool to revert growing deaths from tobacco products. Though, this has taken us so long, we are confident that this bill will save millions of our brothers and sisters from tobacco-related deaths.”

The group commended the sponsor of the bill, Senator Olorunimbe Mamora, for “standing firm in the dogged fight and underhand lobbying by the tobacco companies to undermine the passage of this very important bill.”

“We also rejoice with the sixth session of the Nigerian Senate because it will be remembered in the history of our nation for passing a bill which will place Nigeria on the map of other progressive countries that have initiated policies and measures to reduce smoking and its attendant ill-health. This Senate will also be remembered for passing a people oriented law which is aimed at safeguarding our public health and improving the lives of Nigerians,” Akinbode said.

He however pleaded with the leadership of the National Assembly “to fast –track the remaining legislative process to ensure that the bill is presented for presidential assents quickly.”

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 of tobacco products. The bill was presented on the floor of the senate for second reading in February 2009 and a public hearing was conducted in July 2009 before its eventual passage.

 

 

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Two years after, Senate passes Tobacco Control Bill

The Senate yesterday banned tobacco adverts and smoking in public places as it passed the National Tobacco Control Bill.

It passed the bill about 25months after its presentation.

The bill, sponsored by  Senator Olorunimbe Mamora, representing Lagos East Senatorial District, domesticates the World Health Organisation (WHO) initiated Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), a global treaty for tobacco control, which the country ratified some years ago.

Major highlights of the bill include:  ban on tobacco advertisement, sponsorship and promotions, ban on selling cigarettes to persons under 18, ban on smoking of tobacco products in public places which include airports, schools and public buildings, warning messages on tobacco packs and regulations on manufacturing, distribution and marketing of tobacco products in Nigeria.

The Bill repeals 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. 

The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) praised the Senate for the passage, saying the Upper Chamber has delivered a major public health tool that will save the lives of millions of Nigerians from tobacco-induced deaths.


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ERA lauds Senate over passage of tobacco bill

THE Environmental Rights Action and Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has commended members of the upper chamber of the National Assembly for passing the National Tobacco Control bill yesterday.
The non-governmental organisation said the lawmakers have  delivered a major public health tool that will save the lives of millions of Nigerians from tobacco-induced deaths.
The senators had in a unanimous vote passed the bill which was sponsored by Senator Olorunimbe Mamora representing Lagos East Senatorial District.
Mainly, the bill domesticates the World Health Organisation (WHO) initiated Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), a global standard for tobacco control. The country  has signed and ratified the treaty.
Highlights of the bill passed yesterday include:  a 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 include airports, schools and public buildings;  warning messages on tobacco packs and regulations on manufacturing, distribution and marketing of tobacco products in the country.

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Group commends passage of tobacco bill

The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FOEN) has commended the Senate over passage of the National Tobacco Control Bill. They say the lawmakers have delivered a major public health tool that will save the lives of millions of Nigerians from tobacco-induced deaths.

According to the group, “We salute the courage of the Nigerian Senate for giving this nation a strong tool to revert growing deaths from tobacco products. Though this has taken us so long, we are confident that this bill will save millions of our brothers and sisters from tobacco-related deaths.” The group had earlier lamented the delay by the National Assembly in passing the law of the National Tobacco Control Bill, saying that delay in the passage of the bill may cost the nation more tobacco-related deaths.

Senate to be remembered

“We also rejoice with the sixth session of the Nigerian Senate because it will be remembered in the history of our nation for passing a bill which will place Nigeria on the map of progressive countries that have initiated policies and measures to reduce smoking and its attendant health risks. This senate will also be remembered for passing a people-oriented law which is aimed at safeguarding our public health and improving the lives of Nigerians,” the group said in a press statement made available to NEXT. The national tobacco bill bans the sales of single sticks of cigarettes, tobacco advertisement, sponsorship, promotions, selling cigarettes to persons under the age of 18 and smoking of tobacco products in public places.

The group however, urged the leadership of the National Assembly “to fast-track the remaining legislative process to ensure that the bill is presented for presidential assent quickly.”

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ERA Lauds Senate over Passage of Tobacco Bill

The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has commended the Senate over yesterday’s (Tuesday) passage of the National Tobacco Control Bill, saying the legislative house has delivered a major public health tool that will save the lives of millions of Nigerians from tobacco-induced deaths.

The Senate had in a unanimous vote passed the bill which was sponsored by Senator Olorunimbe Mamora representing Lagos East Senatorial District.

Mainly, the bill domesticates the World Health Organisation (W.H.O) initiated Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), a global standard for tobacco control. Nigeria has signed and ratified the treaty.

Major highlights of the bill passed yesterday 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, schools and public buildings; and regulations on manufacturing, distribution and marketing of tobacco products in Nigeria.

ERA/FoEN Director of Campaigns Akinbode Oluwafemi said: “We salute the courage of the Nigerian Senate for giving this nation a strong tool to revert growing deaths from tobacco products. Though, this has taken us so long, we are confident that this bill will save millions of our brothers and sisters from tobacco -related deaths.”

The group commended the sponsor of the bill Senator Olorunimbe Mamora for “standing firm in the dogged fight and underhand lobbying by the tobacco companies to undermine the passage of this very important bill.”

“We also rejoice with the sixth session of the Nigerian Senate because it will be remembered in the history of our nation for passing a bill which will place Nigeria on the map of other progressive countries that have initiated policies and measures reduce smoking and its attendant ill-health’s. This senate will also be remembered for passing a people oriented law which is aimed at safeguarding our public health and improving the lives of Nigerians”, Akinbode added.

He however pleaded with the leadership of the National Assembly “to fast –track the remaining legislative process to ensure that the bill is presented for presidential assents quickly.” 

 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 of tobacco products. The bill was presented on the floor of the senate for second reading in February 2009 and a public hearing was conducted in July 2009 before its eventual passage.

Tobacco suit- Lagos State, ERA challenge stay of proceedings

Tobacco: The ruthless killer next door 1

•Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye, a notable essayist and columnist says that smokers are burning their lungs...

Today, as I allow my mind to endure the oppressive thought that tobacco still remains the ruthless killer next door, what then shall we call its producers and distributors? The answer can only be simple and straightforward: They are people who prosper at the expense of other people’s lives. They make their billions by ruining other people’s health, and eventually terminating their lives. They should therefore not complain if anyone refers to them as proud, happy, licensed murderers

Packs of Killer Poison

How these people are able to deaden their conscience to go on prospering and sustaining their own lives by producing and marketing a scientifically confirmed poison whose only benefit is its ability to cruelly terminate the lives of their fellow human beings beats me hollow? Tobacco never adds even the tiniest value to life; it only destroys it completely. Without mercy. This is a fact nobody has even attempted to deny.

The Nigerian president should put the concern for the lives of many Nigerians above his often whispered personal tastes and habits and take another look at the massive freedom granted by his predecessor to tobacco companies to fill Nigeria with their neatly wrapped and attractively packaged killer poison called cigarettes. If he cannot immediately ban the production of cigarettes in Nigeria, he should, at least, put in place stricter regulations that would ensure that tobacco manufacturing would automatically become a very unprofitable venture in Nigeria. 

I call on Nigerians with lively conscience and genuine friends of Nigeria, to join this clearly winnable battle, to flush these heartless fellows out of Nigeria. The question I have always asked cigarette producers is: can they boldly come out in the open and assure me that the commodity they manufacture and distribute to hapless individuals cannot be rightly classified as poison? Again, they should tell me one single benefit the human body derives from smoking cigarettes. Has it not been convincingly proved everywhere, and publicly admitted even by tobacco producers, that tobacco is a merciless killer, an unrelenting cannibal that devours a man when his life is sweetest to him?  If then tobacco is a proven killer, can’t those who manufacture and circulate it in society be classified as murderers? Hasn’t even our own Federal Ministry of Health been shouting and warning us with passion, sense of urgency and alarm that TOBACCO SMOKERS ARE LIABLE TO DIE YOUNG?

What the Health Ministry here is saying is very simple: Anyone offering you a cigarette is only wishing you an untimely death. In fact, he is just saying to you: May you die young! That is exactly what tobacco companies, including the government that issued them the license to transact their deadly trade in Nigeria are wickedly wishing their Nigerian victims! Yes, tobacco companies manufacture products that make people to die young. How wicked and heartless could they be!

Before now, these tobacco companies would erect fresh, beautiful billboards, and fill several pages of newspapers and magazines with glossy adverts. Unfortunately, that option is no longer available to them, because of the ban on outdoor advertising of their lethal products. I am glad that those pleasant pictures of vivacious achievers smiling home with glittering laurels just because they were hooked to particular brands of cigarette which used to adorn glossy billboards and magazine pages, and which had proved irresistible baits to several people, especially youths, have now vanished from the public domain. 

As a youth, the elegant, gallant, athletic rodeo man whose image marketed the 555 brand of cigarette was my best idea of a handsome, hard-working winner. My friends and I admired him, carried his photographs about, and yearned to smoke 555 in order to grow up and become energetic and vivacious like him. One wonders how many youths that have been terminally impaired because they went beyond mere fantasies or obsession with their cigarette heroes and became chain-smokers and irredeemable addicts. Managers of tobacco adverts are so adept in this grand art of monumental deception that their victims never suspect any harm until they have willingly placed their heads on the slaughter slab. Indeed, only very few are able to look beyond the meretricious pictures and the pernicious pomp of cigarette promotional stunt and see the blood-curdling pictures of piecemeally ruined lungs and other sensitive organs, murky, chimney-like breath tracts and heart region, the looming merciless and spine-chilling fangs of an all devouring cancer, tuberculosis, sundry lung and heart diseases, and their associate unyielding killers. 

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Group seeks quick passage of anti-tobacco bill

SOURCE: PUNCH, MONDAY 20TH, DECEMBER 2010

GROUP SEEKS QUICK PASSAGE OF ANTI-TOBACCO BILL

The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria on Sunday stated that the passage of the National Tobacco Control Bill by the Senate was being stalled by the absence of the Chairman, Senate Committee on Health, Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello.

The bill which, according to the group, was sponsored by Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora from Lagos State, was scheduled to be presented for third reading last Thursday but was stood down due to the absence of Obasanjo-Bello.

The bill has been in the Senate since 2008 and is a comprehensive law that will regulate the manufacture, sales, distribution and marketing of tobacco products in Nigeria.

A statement by ERA/FoEN’s Director (Corporate Accountability and Administration), Mr. Akinbode Oluwafemi, said it was disturbing that the bill had suffered another setback. The group urged the Senate to give it proper treatment.

He said it was a comprehensive law that would save the lives of millions of Nigerians, if passed.

Oluwafemi said, “We find it disturbing that the National Tobacco Control Bill should suffer this setback again. We think the Senate should accord the bill the importance it deserves. It is a comprehensive law that is designed to save millions of lives now and in the future.

“The tobacco control bill is a bill for the next generation and it should be treated with the utmost importance that it deserves. We are sad that once again, we seem to have missed a very important opportunity.”

Oluwafemi, however, praised the efforts made on the bill so far adding. “We salute the courage of the members of Senate who have worked on the bill in the last two years, we commend the maturity displayed by members of the health committee and especially the Senate President, David Mark, for his support. We hope the Senate will continue deliberations on the bill at the earliest opportunity.”

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New report exposes how tobacco companies undermine WHO health policy : Uruguay proposes resolution calling for unity in face of tobacco industry interference

 A new investigative report by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists

 exposes a wide range of tactics employed by the tobacco industry to undermine advances being made by the global tobacco treaty – Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). Threats to health policy include aggressive lobbying and legal intimidation, to charitable donations and even outright payoffs.

Even as Parties- including delegates from Nigeria’s ministry of health and other countries are discussing how to overcome such obstacles – the primary threat in advancing a treaty the World Health Organization projects could save 200 million lives by 2050 – industry tactics have followed countries to this week’s treaty negotiations in Uruguay.

Not only are dozens of tobacco industry representatives from Philip Morris and British America Tobacco (BAT) crowding the halls of the negotiation each day, they are also playing a role in the seating of delegates in attendance. These delegates are the eyes, ears, and voice piece of an industry that has otherwise been prohibited from directly participating in the negotiations and health policy under a core provision of the treaty.

One example is Zimbabwe, a non-Party observer. Despite being cash strapped the country somehow mustered the funds to send 10 delegates to Uruguay days after a prominent tobacco industry front group disparaged guidelines being negotiated this week to the Wall Street Journal. To put this in perspective, more than 35 ratifyingcountries were unable to send even a single representative. Worse, though the treaty requires that health policies and negotiations being protective from “commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry,” Zimbabwe’s delegation includes representatives from the Tobacco Industry Marketing Board, as well as ministries whose priority is either trade or agriculture.

“A reminder is needed that we are here to devise solutions to save people’s lives,” said Sam Ochieng of the Network for Accountability of Tobacco Trans-nationals and Consumer Information Network Kenya. “Progress is not possible if the long arm of industry is able to reach into and manipulate a conversation that rightly excludes Big Tobacco.”

“The report by the International Consortium of Investigative  Journalists is revealing. It is not surprising that Philip Morris is instituting a suit against the Uruguay government for introducing warning labels on cigarettes sold in the country or the presence of tobacco industry representatives in the halls during negotiations. Parties must however be be vigilant to the avowed intentions of the industry to fight provisions that prohibit them from interfering in the process,” said Philip Jakpor of Environmental Rights Action. 

Tobacco growing countries like Zimbabwe may be the most brazen, but are not unique when it comes to sending representatives from ministries whose objectives may be at odds with the treaty’s guiding principle that the public’s health be prioritized over trade. Of the 438 Party delegates listed in the provisional list of participants, 74 delegates represent ministries other than health. Egregious examples include Macedonia’s delegation which has no health ministry representation. Of its 19 member delegation, China sent five delegates from its state-owned tobacco corporation.

While some non-health ministries may have legitimate reason for inclusion in a delegation, such as representation from finance ministries in anticipation of discussions regarding tobacco taxation; for others such appointments further expose the primary obstacle to treaty implementation – the fact that industry has a voice it shouldn’t within government in deciding health policy.      

“This is not to say the vast majority of countries here are not acting with integrity, just that parties must be unified in challenging tobacco industry interference for the treaty to progress,” said Corporate Accountability International’s Latin America Director Yul Francisco Dorado.

In this vein, Uruguay has proposed a resolution calling for parties to stand together in confronting the manner of legal intimidation it and other countries are now facing from Philip Morris International.

Corporate Accountability International and its partners which ERA is part of, are pushing for the inclusion of a provision giving the secretariat representing the parties to the treaty a voice during legal proceedings.

FULL REPORT

Nigeria Tobacco Control Bill, the world is watching

-AKINSHOLA OWOEYE

The lackadaisical attitude of our lawmakers on the National Tobacco Control Bill (NTCB) has generated concern among serious-minded Nigerians within and outside the country. The Senate Committee on Health chaired by Senator Iyabo-Obasanjo Bello was given two weeks by Senate President David Mark to produce a report on the Public Hearing organised by the same Committee. But the Committee is yet to produce the report for adoption at the plenary of the Senate.

The action of the lawmakers calls for obvious questions, such as 'when would the bill be passed?' Would the law makers allow the tobacco industry to continue to exploit the innocent youths? How long would it take the lawmakers to pass a crucial bill that has to do with health? No one can deny the dangerous effects of tobacco use. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), tobacco currently kills 5.4 million people every year globally, and if left unchecked, this number will increase to 8 million with devastating results for developing countries like Nigeria which will contribute about 70 percent of that casualty. In the 20th century, the tobacco epidemic killed 100 million people, and according to WHO estimates, it could kill one billion people in the 21st century.

The Public Hearing was an eye-opener for Nigerians, including David Mark, and participants. Over 45 Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), including local and international organisations, made presentations in support of the bill. Since the Public Hearing in July 2009, Nigerians and others stakeholders in public health including Babatunde Osotimehin, former health minister; Umar Modibbo, former FCT minister and Kayode Soyinka, WHO representative, among other eminent Nigerians, have waited for Senator Iyabo-Obasanjo Bello's committee to return the bill to plenary for adoption. But the wait and hope of 150 million people seem dashed.

If the bill is passed and enforced, two outcomes are possible: The level of national savings will increase and other forms of consumption expenditure will be substituted for tobacco expenditure. Studies in several countries have examined the potential economic impact of the complete elimination of tobacco use and production. The evidence shows that elimination of tobacco will not affect the economy. This is because tobacco use has many externalised costs (costs not paid for by smokers or tobacco manufacturers). This involves healthcare costs incurred by governments to take care of smoking -related diseases. When people no longer spend their money on tobacco, they will spend their money on other things. This alternative spending will stimulate other sectors of the economy. If the money is saved rather than spent, the increased savings are likely to have stimulatory macroeconomic effects.

But our government's lack of attention in calculating the economic losses of tobacco has contributed largely to the expansion of BAT in Nigeria. In 2006, a survey from 11 government- owned hospitals in Lagos State revealed that at least two persons die of a tobacco-related disease daily. It also revealed that same year, there were 9750 tobacco-related cases reported in these hospitals. To that end, the state averred that it spent N222, 000 subsidising the cost of treatment of each tobacco-related case. Each individual, the report said, also spends an additional N70, 000 treating the same disease. From the foregoing, the Lagos economy lost N2, 847,000,000. Note that this amount is higher in the northern parts of Nigeria where the smoking prevalence doubles that in the south.

The second outcome has to do with loss of production, an aspect which has not been fully addressed. There are three ways in which smoking affects production: one, it reduces life expectancy - thus the productive years of workers; secondly, it increases the number of the permanently disabled who will end up as a burden to our social system - consuming more and producing nothing. Thirdly, it increases absenteeism from work as a result of intermittent illnesses. Smoking, through its adverse health effects, reduces the quantity of goods and services produced and thus reduces the society's consumption potential.

The world is watching the efforts of those who have contributed tirelessly to this bill, and also those who would rather watch the country engulfed in a preventable epidemic. No contribution to the public health debate will be forgotten in a hurry. Nature will not forget in hurry too. To redeem our name is to save peoples' lives by passing into law the bill to regulate the activities of tobacco companies.

SOURCE

Group urges NASS on Tobacco Bill

-Mahmud Lalo

 

 

 Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth (ERA/FoEN) has called on the National Assembly to pass the National Tobacco Control Bill into law, saying further delay could lead to the loss of more lives in the country.

A statement by the organization’s Head of Media, Philip Jakpor, said the non-passage of the bill was responsible for smoking among young people in the country as reflected in the recently released Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS).

“While we acknowledge the commitment of the Senate to the delivery of good governance and promotion of public health, your intervention and further action to save the bill will be appreciated. It is now time to act to save the lives of our youths,” he said.

 SOURCE

Smoking - 250 Toxic Chemicals Identified

Yinka Kolawole

Osogbo — A medical health researcher with the College of Health Sciences , Osun State University , Dr. Olanrewaju Onigbogi, has identified 250 chemicals that are toxic and carcinogenic in nature to human health that are endemic in smoking.
According to him, second hand smoke equally causes respiratory discomfort and allergic symptoms on the short term and cardiovascular disease respiratory illness, and lung cancer which is responsible for an estimate of 40,000 deaths in non smokers annually in Africa .
Consequently, to reduce the danger inherent in smoking, the researcher has called on government to enforce a law that would make it mandatory on management of public institutions to designate clearly marked "No smoking" areas in enclosed spaces and encourage clients to keep the laws.
The health researcher, who made the call yesterday at the public presentation of result of Survey of Second Hand Smoking Status (SUSHS) conducted in September, 2010 in Osogbo, Ilesa and Ile-Ife all metropolitan towns in Osun State, said air quality of smoking was monitored by using the TSI SidePak AM510 Personal Aerosol Monitor (TSI, Saint Paul, Minnesota).
He noted that though smoking could be restricted to open air places in the hospitality industry yet, partially enclosed spaces are still dangerous to the health of the workers and should therefore not be encouraged.
Dr. Onigbogi opined that 44.1% of the people are aware of any law prohibiting tobacco smoking in public places in Nigeria while 34.1% were aware of similar law through radio and television adding that short-term exposures to secondhand smoke may increase the risk of heart attack.
He however insisted that secondhand smoke causes long and short term health risks saying that no level of secondhand smoke are safe and should therefore be eliminated in all public places.
According to him, "eliminating smoking in indoor spaces fully protects nonsmokers from exposure to secondhand smoke, separating smokers from nonsmokers, cleaning the air, and ventilating building cannot eliminate exposure of nonsmokers to second smoke".
The researcher noted that 81.8% have expressed support for the current measure at enforcing the tobacco control law particularly in Osun State while 84.2% supported the introduction of additional measures in terms of enforcement and implementation of tobacco control law in Osun State .

ERA petitions Senate President on Tobacco Bill

By Omafume Amurun

The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has implored Senate President, David Mark to follow through his remarks last year on the readiness of the Senate to speedily pass the National Tobacco Control Bill (NTCB) into law, cautioning that further delay on the draft legislation will cost the nation more lives.
ERA/FoEN, in a petition to the Senate President made available to the Niger Delta Standard today 11th October, 2010  and signed by its Executive Director, Pastor Nnimmo Bassey, the group urged the Nigerian government to sanction the British American Tobacco Nigeria (BATN) for targeting young Nigerians in a bid to recruit them as replacement smokers through glamorization of smoking and ‘secret smoking parties’ held in Abuja, Lagos and other parts of the country.
According to the environmental justice group, the non passage of the Bill was responsible for the increased rate of smoking among young people in Nigeria as reflected in the recently released Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) and the mammoth sum that most states are now paying for healthcare of victims of tobacco-related illnesses.
The National Tobacco Control Bill, sponsored by Senator Olorunimbe Mamora went for Public Hearing July 2009 and received overwhelming support from members of the house but the report of that Hearing was yet to be returned to the Senate plenary for eventual passage into a law.
“The result of the Global Youth Tobacco Survey conducted in some states recently which revealed that many more school children fantasize smoking is indeed telling of what the tobacco companies have done to the psyche of our youth. In some areas in Adamawa State the youth smoking rate was put   to 33.9 percent, a very disturbing trend,” said ERA/FoEN Executive Director, Pastor Bassey.
According to Pastor Bassey, “It is saddening that even after the complimentary comments of the Senate President, who declared last year that action will be taken on the Bill within two weeks of the Public Hearing, nothing has happened even after a year.
ERA ‘s position is further reinforced by the fact that as Party to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the Nigerian government owes its citizens an obligation to domesticate the treaty.”
‘While we acknowledge the commitment of the Senate to the delivery of good governance and promotion of public health, your intervention and further actions to save the bill will be appreciated. It is now time to act to save the lives of our youth that now stand threatened by the activities of BATN and other tobacco merchants,” Pastor Bassey noted.
Among others recommendations, ERA is praying the Senate to, as a matter of national urgency commence debate on the report of the Public Hearing and pass the Bill into law

 SOURCE