PRESENTATION OF THE SHADOW REPORT ON STATUS OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE FCTC ARTICLES 5.3, 6 AND 13 IN NIGERIA

Environmentalists urge Jonathan to sign tobacco Bill

President Goodluck Jonathan has been urged to sign the National Tobacco Control Bill (NTCB) into law.

Speaking at the presentation of its Shadow Report on implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in Nigeria, the Environmental Rights Action (ERA)/ Friends of the Earth Nigeria (FoEN) yesterday in Lagos said the country stands to gain a lot from the domestication of the FCTC.

According to the group, since Nigeria ratified the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) FCTC in 2005, nothing significant has been achieved.

The group said Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora presented the National Tobacco Control Bill to the sixth National Assembly in 2008 as part of effort to domesticate its provisions, adding that till date, tobacco control in the country has left much to be desired.

ERA/ FoEN’s Director in charge of Corporate Accountability, Mr Akinbode Oluwafemi, said the passage of the NTCB will be the beginning of effective tobacco control legislation in the country.

"Nigeria will not make any progress towards the eradication of the tobacco epidemic and reduction of addiction without the signing into law, the NTCB," he said.

ERA’s Head, National Tobacco Control Campaign, Mr Seun Akioye, said the ban on outdoor/billboard advertising was obeyed by the tobacco industry, but that the ban on Point of Sale (POS) advertising has been ignored. He added that most of the stores and supermarkets advertise tobacco products while some expose cigarette shelves to young people and underage persons.

He said there were umbrellas, posters, kiosks and other means of outdoor advertising freely displayed.

Akioye said the prices of cigarette should be increased as well as the taxes on tobacco products effected to reduce the demand for tobacco. "During the Shadow Report, ERA/ FoEN wass able to establishe that the country is behind in implementing tax measures to reduce the demand for tobacco. Also, the average price of a pack of cigarette is N300 while the average discounted price stands at N80," he said.

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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.

Sign Tobacco Control bill now, Mamora urges president

Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora, who  sponsored the National Tobacco Control Bill, said the country has a lot to benefit from the signing of the bill.

What prompted you to sponsor the National Tobacco Control Bill in the Senate?

It is out of concern for the welfare of Nigerians in general. I felt as a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria then and a medical practitioner, I should take up the challenge.

What was the bill out to achieve?
Essentially to control tobacco smoking and the use of tobacco, to regulate the sale, manufacturing, advertising and promotion of tobacco in the country. It was passed in May, this year by the Senate and was concurred by the House of Representatives. It is now before Mr President for his signature.

How do you feel now that the President has not assented to the Tobacco Control bill?
Naturally, I don’t feel good about it. But I am hopeful that Mr President will invariably sign the bill, thereby making it become an Act of the National Assembly. Signing the bill into law has a global dimension because it will put Nigeria on a high pedestal in terms of being a member of the international body of the nations that has taken interest in the health of its citizenry. The bill has socio-economic importance apart from health implications. The President should not only sign the bill but should also ensure that the provisions in the law are enforced.

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

‘Tobacco-induced death on the rise worldwide’

Deaths from diseases such as tuberculosis, HIV/AIDs and malaria are declining while those induced by tobacco consumption are on the increase.

This was disclosed at the weekend by Thomas Frieden, director of the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, USA, while delivering a lecture at the 41st Union World Conference on Lung Health in Berlin, Germany. He said this trend could be reversed if governments across the world take actions to stem the tide. Among the steps he recommended were the imposition of heavy tax on cigarettes, adherence to and the implementation of steps laid out in the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

The Framework is the first health treaty negotiated under the auspices of the World Health Organisation (WHO). It was adopted by the World Health Assembly seven years ago and entered into force in 2005. It has since become one of the most widely embraced treaties in UN history with about 171 parties. Mr Frieden said it is unfortunate that tobacco has wreaked so much havoc on the human race when death and illness from it could be curbed. He advised governments to impose yearly heavy taxes on tobacco industries as a way of making the commodity expensive and out of the reach of the people.

According to the WHO, tobacco is the leading cause of death, illness and impoverishment, adding that its “use is one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced. It kills more than five million people a year - an average of one person every six seconds - and accounts for one in 10 adult deaths. Up to half of current users will eventually die of a tobacco-related disease.” Mr Frieden said all efforts must be made to reverse this dreadful trend.

Also speaking at another event at the conference, Nils Billo, Executive Director of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) made a case for more money to be invested in the fight against tuberculosis (TB) so as to curb the drug-resistant epidemic of the disease. He observed that there are increasing reports that TB drugs are going out of stocks in several countries and this could lead to a drug-resistant epidemic.

Poor man’s burden

Anthony Harris, an advisor at The Union said poverty and malnutrition have strong links to TB and that the poor are usually at greater risks. Lee Reichman, a professor of medicine at the New Jersey Medical School of Global Tuberculosis Institute, who described TB as “forgotten but not gone” disease said the it could be eliminated because its cause was known. According to him, “More people died from TB last year than any year in history.” Mr Harris added that in the last 10 years there have been 300 million infections, 90 million cases and over 30 million deaths. He regretted that TB kills about 1.7million people per year yet not much attention was being paid to it compared to SARS which killed 813, Avian influenza (6250), anthrax (5) and small pox which killed no one.

He also said the cure for TB has remained a sort of mirage due to economic considerations because it is not a disease that fetches big money.

“Nobody seems to care. This wouldn’t be tolerated for any other disease. Why does TB still infect one-third of the world’s population and remain a global threat despite the fact that highly cost-effective drugs are available to eradicate it?,” he said.

The ongoing Union World Conference is the largest annual conference focusing on lung health issues as they affect low and middle-income countries. It is organised each year by the Paris-based International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease. Some 2,500 delegates from more than 100 countries are attending.

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ERA seeks passage of tobacco bill

-BY MICHAEL ORIE

THE Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) yesterday called on the National Assembly to pass into law the National Tobacco Control Bill, saying its delay has further promoted the activity of tobacco industries in the country.
    The call was made in the wake of the 10th International Week of the Resistance Against Tobacco Transnational, to expose the ever-evolving tactics of the tobacco industry to undermine public health through its lethal products.
   According to the Director, Accountability Campaigns and Administration, Environmental Rights Action, Oluwafemi Akinbode, the bill had been foot-dragging for the past two years without a particular reason for the delay.
  “We have an increase worries on why the bill has not been passed, as there is a clear indication the delay might have a political undertone,” he said.
   The one-week event that started yesterday is aimed at building momentum in the run-up to the World Health Organisation (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) meetings in Uruguay in November this year for a unified international action to prevent the tobacco industry from derailing the FCTC’s life-saving measures.
    Akinbode, to prove the menace the delay has caused, said “in solidarity with our allies and NGOs across the globe taking part in several actions to expose some of the tobacco industry tactics to undermine the FCTC, ERA/FoEN has released a report from tobacco industry watchdog  – Corporate Accountability International – documenting persistent and ongoing efforts to obstruct the FCTC on the African continent and around the world. The report points to tobacco industry interference as the single greatest obstacle to the treaty realising its full potential.”
   He added that the report is intended to keep governments alert and make them anticipate and thwart attempts by the vested commercial interests of the tobacco industry to undermine the implementation of tobacco control policies.
   According to Akinbode,  Nigeria which is among the first few countries that signed the FCTC in 2004 and ratified it in 2005 is still foot-dragging in totally domesticating the treaty through the National Tobacco Control Bill which was hailed by local and international groups at the public hearing organised by the Senate Committee on Health in July 2009 as a step to curbing “the gale of deaths which tobacco has wrought on this nation.”
“British America Tobacco (BAT) which controls over 80 per cent of the Nigerian cigarette market has continued to undermine the treaty by deliberate misinformation and illicit actions targeted at the youth.  For instance, in the last two months the company has held several secret smoking parties targeted at new smokers. Two of such parties were held in Ajegunle and Victoria Island, both in Lagos, and the company has announced plans to seize the opportunity of the upcoming yuletide to organise more.” 
   According to ERA, on June 15 this year the company had announced a position for Regulatory Affairs and External Communications Executive Staff to be based in Lagos. The job announcement which described a potential candidate as one who can “establish BAT as a trusted partner of regulators and a leading authority on tobacco control issues across Nigeria,” was said to have outlined that the company was looking for someone “to provide advocacy that ensure(s) that engagement is relevant to tobacco control thinking, both current and future in order to maximise transaction with stakeholders and demonstrate deep knowledge of tobacco control in the real world.”

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Osun bans smoking in public

By Collins Nweze

The Environmental Rights Action/ Friends of the earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has commended the Osun State government for signing the Osun State Prohibition of Smoking in Public Places Bill 2009 into law. The agency said the decision is one of the most far-reaching efforts taken by any state in the country to safeguard public health.
The bill prohibits smoking in cinemas, theatres or the stadia, medical establishments, hotels; offices, schools and public transportation, nursery institutions and lifts.
Another major highlight of the bill is that it prohibits smoking in both private and public vehicles with a non- smoking occupant below 18.
In a statement in Lagos, the group said the government had taken a lead and demonstrated its responsiveness to the well-being of its people and public health and should be emulated by other states.
"The Nigerian tobacco control community lauds this enviable step by the Osun State government as it will go a long way in checkmating the growing number of tobacco–induced deaths that have been on the steady increase," said ERA/FoEN Programme Manager, Akinbode Oluwafemi.
He, however, noted: "Paradoxically, while Osun State has taken practical steps in safeguarding public health, the National Assembly is still foot-dragging on translating the all-encompassive National Tobacco Control Bill (NTCB) into law even with the overwhelming support that the bill engendered at the public hearing on July 20-21 last year.
Reiterating the group’s call for the National Assembly to expedite action on the NTCB, Oluwafemi said that Nigerians are dying by the seconds due to tobacco addiction while tobacco manufacturers smile to the banks. Every day that we delay the implementation of strict laws, there will be more deaths, more ill-heaths and the economy will suffer. The trend globally showed that only far-reaching laws can stop a gale of deaths spurred by tobacco smoke.
Tobacco currently kills 5.4 million people and if current trend continues it will kill about eight million by 2015, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

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ERA pushes for passage of National Tobacco Bill

By Collins Nweze

The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has decried the delay by the National Assembly in the passage into law of the National Tobacco Control Bill. The agency said further delay in the passage of the bill may cost the nation more tobacco-related deaths.
The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which has been signed and ratified by over 168 countries including Nigeria came into force in 2005 and is the first treaty negotiated under the auspices of the World Health Organisation (WHO) to take global action against tobacco-related deaths. The WHO says tobacco-related deaths stand at 5.4 million people annually, and projects this will increase beyond eight million over the next two decades, with the majority of lives lost in developing countries. It, therefore, insists that strong worldwide enforcement and implementation of the FCTC could save 200 million lives by the year 2050.
Nigeria, which signed the FCTC in 2004 and ratified in 2005, has been recording more deaths relating to tobacco, especially cancer. "The fifth year of FCTC entering into force calls for sober reflection for us as a nation because in the last five years little progress has been made in domesticating the FCTC.
This has not been without a grave impact on the citizenry because within this period we have lost talented musicians, journalists and even doctors, no thanks to nearly no regulation of an industry that markets a lethal product in beautiful wraps," said ERA/FoEN Programme Manager, Akinbode Oluwafemi.
Oluwafemi pointed out that "Nigerians are unhappy with the slow response of government to public health protection especially with the way the tobacco control bill has been neglected after the public hearing held in July 2009. We are further dismayed that there is an alleged clandestine moves by tobacco lobbyists to compromise our law makers with the intent of thwarting the passage of the national tobacco control bill."
"How else can you explain our law makers’ foot-dragging on the bill nearly one year after the public hearing? This action is anti-people and seriously compromises our democracy. Our lawmakers should stand by the people who have spoken in unison at the public hearing and abide by the principles of the FCTC which has reduced tobacco-related deaths in countries that have implemented the provisions"
The Director-General of the WHO, Dr. Margaret Chan, said recent studies estimates that full implementation of just four cost-effective measures set out in the FCTC could prevent 5.5 million deaths within a decade.

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Reducing Tobacco-Related Deaths

By Ozioma Ubabukoh

African nations seem poised to undergo the highest increase in the rate of tobacco use among developing countries, and nearly 90 per cent of people on the continent, perhaps, remain without meaningful protection from second-hand smoke, according to a new report released at a regional conference recently.
The report, ”Global Voices: Rebutting the Tobacco Industry, Winning Smoke-free Air”, however, tend to point to signs of hope. Several African countries are fighting against the tobacco industry‘s aggressive campaigns to stop public health interventions by putting smoke-free laws into place, probably protecting more than 100 million more people since 2007. This report was published by the Global Smoke-free Partnership.
Recent data suggest that, with current trends, more than half of the region of Africa may double its tobacco consumption within 12 years. And to check this, ”Smoke-free public places are one example of a low-cost and extremely effective intervention that must be implemented now to protect health”, said Dr. Otis W. Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society.
In about less than two years, Kenya and Niger Republic have enacted national smoke-free policies, and South Africa, which has been smoke-free since 2007, according to reports by environment reporters, has been termed to play an important role in the region, demonstrating that smoke-free laws could work in Africa. In what seemed as a first for the region, Mauritius recently passed a law that is close to meeting the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control standards, ranking among the most robust anti-smoking measures in the world.
According to the American Cancer Society monitoring team report, implementation remains a challenge in many places, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana and Uganda. Even with the ban placed on smoking in public places in Abuja, the nation‘s federal capital, in 2008, by its former minister, Alhaji Aliyu Umar Modibbo, the city is seen as most vulnerable to the campaign of ensuring a smoke-free society.
”In Abuja, Nigeria, for example, 55 per cent of school students are not aware that second-hand smoke is harmful to health, and only 1 per cent of Nigeria‘s population is protected by strong smoke-free laws”, the report said.
It also exposes the tobacco industry‘s tactics to hold back legislation and convince African governments that tobacco is important to economic activity; that raising taxes on cigarettes and implementing smoke-free laws will result in revenue and job losses. In Kenya, for instance, it was reported that the tobacco industry issued a legal challenge to a smoke-free law passed by the Parliament. In Zambia equally, the British American Tobacco company has been accused of aiming to dilute proposals for a smoke-free law.
Some people have alleged that the campaign against tobacco smoking, especially in Nigeria, seems to be hindered by some journalists who would rather comment on any other health issue, no matter how agonising, than report or write on the dangers of smoking cigarettes.
According to them, some journalists are of the belief that the best writers are those who smoke and drink. And they have passed this notion to the younger ones planning to take up a career in journalism.
The National Coordinator, Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance, Mr. Akinbode Oluwafemi, said this might be responsible for deaths of more journalists from tobacco-related ailments.
Oluwafemi, who is also the Programme Manager, Environmental Rights Action and Friends of the Earth, Nigeria, said, ”For how long are we going to be silent? Several Nigerian journalists and activists are aware that they are dying from cancer of the lungs and tobacco-related ailments, yet they have kept the stick burning. On most occasions, they lead the campaign against smoking, and immediately after that you find them lighting the stick. We have lost the likes of Steve the sleek Kadiri, Momoh Kubanji, Yinka Craig and Beko Ransome Kuti to tobacco smoking.
”Cancer control programme should be linked to tobacco control. Journalists should lead on awareness creation. It is time to be open about our friends, brothers and sisters dieing of tobacco- related cancers. Let‘s support the passage of the national tobacco control Bill.”
It is estimated that in 2010 smoking will claim the lives of six million people worldwide, 72 per cent of whom reside in low and middle-income countries, Nigeria inclusive. If current trends continue, tobacco will kill seven million people annually by 2020 and more than 8 million people annually by 2030.

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Anti-smoking law: Only 1% of Nigerians are protected by smoke-free laws —Report

By Waheed Bakare

Only one per cent of Nigeria’s over 140 million people are protected by strong smoke-free laws, a new report released last Wednesday by Global Smokefree Partnership and the American Cancer Society has revealed.

Besides, the report also stated that in Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory, 55 per cent of school pupils were not aware that secondhand smoke is harmful to health.

Medical experts had repeatedly said there was scientific evidence that secondhand smoke was a proven cause of serious diseases and premature death.

According to the report, “Global Voices: Rebutting the Tobacco Industry, Winning Smokefree Air,” nearly 90 per cent of people on the African continent are without meaningful protection from secondhand smoke.

The report noted that it was worrisome that Africa, which accounted for 14 per cent of the world’s population, had just four per cent of the world’s smokers today. Despite the infinitesimal percentage of the world’s smokers on the continent, the report noted that African nations would soon undergo the highest increase in the rate of tobacco use among developing countries, “with more than half the continent expected to double its tobacco use within 12 years if current trends continue.”

“If we don’t act now on tobacco control in Africa, millions of lives will be lost because tobacco is now becoming an issue in Africa,” Tom Glynn of the Global Smokefree Partnership told the Agence France Presse.

Despite the gloomy picture, the report noted that many African countries were resisting tobacco industry’s aggressive efforts to stop governments from putting in place smoke-free laws.

“For the first time in history, we have the tools in hand to prevent a pandemic. Recent data suggests that, with current trends, more than half of the region of Africa will double its tobacco consumption within 12 years. Smoke-free public places are one example of a low-cost and extremely effective intervention that must be implemented now to protect health.” said Dr. Otis W. Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society.

To back up its claim, the report observed that Kenya and Niger had enacted national smoke-free policies within the last year, and South Africa, which had been smoke-free since March 2007, still played a major role on the continent.

The South Africa’s inspiring role, the report added, was an indication that smoke-free laws could work on the continent.

“In a first for the region, Mauritius recently passed a law that is close to meeting the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control standards, ranking among the strongest anti-smoking measures in the world,” the report stated.

But it said implementation remained a challenge in many places such as Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana and Uganda, adding that “barriers include identifying resources for implementation, and tobacco industry opposition to smoke-free laws.”

For instance, a Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Fred Agbaj, regretted that since anti-smoking law was passed in 1990, Nigerian law enforcement agencies were yet to arrest and prosecute any violator.

He said, “I am aware that in this country, the regime of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida passed the anti-smoking law in 1990. By this law, smoking was banned in public places. I am aware that the law is still in force but no arrest has been made. Police have access to public places where people smoke but how many have they arrested?”

Agbaje, who spoke on the phone with our correspondent, advised the government to have the will, resources and determination to enforce this law in the interest of the majority who were not smokers.

However, the Programme Manager, Enviromental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria, Mr. Bode Oluwafemi, faulted the report and disagreed with Agbaje.

He said the report was a “fallacy”, adding that ban of smoking in public places was still in force in Nigeria. He said the law specified that smoking should not be carried out indoors.

Oluwafemi described anti-smoking law as “citizen law meant to teach attitude.” He said if people for instance, smoke within a court premises, they had not violated the law as such places were not indoors.

“There is a lot of misconception about this law. The law says you cannot smoke indoors. If you go to government buildings, schools, restaurants, hospitals, do people smoke there? The answer is no. Enforcing the law does not mean people should be jailed. The law is self-enforcing and it is meant to teach attitudes,” he said.

In spite of this sharp division, the report exposed tobacco industry’s tactics aimed at holding back legislation and convincing African governments that tobacco was important to economic activity, that raising taxes on cigarettes and implementing smoke-free laws would result in revenue and job losses.

The report estimated that in 2010, smoking would kill six million people worldwide, 72 per cent of them would come from low and middle-income countries.

It added that if the current trends were not abated, tobacco would claim the lives of seven million people a year by 2020 and more than eight million people annually by 2030.

The report, which was launched at a media summit hosted by the American Cancer Society on November 12, 2009, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, observed that some one billion people in 45 countries were now protected from health hazards of secondhand tobacco smoke at work and in public places.

“Despite this progress, more than 85 per cent of the world’s people are without such protection,” it warned.

Countries that have enacted strong, nationwide smoke-free laws include: Bermuda, Bhutan, Colombia, Djibouti, Iceland, Ireland, Lithuania, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and Uruguay. Most Canadian provinces/territories and Australian states/territories have also enacted such laws.

The National Secretary-General, Nigerian Medical Association Dr. Ken Okoro, said secondhand smoking is better known as perceive smoking. He said percesive smoking was when non a smoker inhale the smoke puffed out by a smoker.

Okoro in a telephone interview confirmed that perceive smoker could be at higher risk compare to a smoker because perceive smoker had no control over the quantity of smoke he or she inhales.

He said, “Sometimes a perceive smoker is sometimes more expose to danger than actual smoker. A smoker inhales the smoke and puff out some. So, he can determine the level of smoke he inhales. Whereas, a perceive smoker innocently inhales as much smoke quantity as possible and cannot puff out any smoke.

“This presupposes that a secondhand smoker can have lung cancer, small blood vessel or cardiovascular disease.”

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Time to nail breast cancer

By Olukorede Yishau

Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu woke up one day and had no cause to feel anything was wrong with her. She felt great and naturally had no reason to believe anything was amiss with her health. Then, she decided to have her bath. And her world came crashing like a ceiling that caved into a severe storm. It was in 1997. As she was having her bath, her fingers touched something on her. A lump? She told herself it could not be. It was a denial she did not even believe herself. Her emotions ran riot and fear took over her entire being.
For one week, she kept it to herself. She could not share the fear that she had breast cancer with anyone. Not even her husband or family doctor. She was under terrific emotional trauma. Not even her husband’s belief that she was withdrawn could draw her out.
But an angel soon came. The angel came via the a cable show. According to her, "I tuned to cable TV and chose UK living and there was Rolanda’s show tilted "this programme can save your life." It surely did, for it was about breast cancer survivors. That programme gave me what I needed most at that point in time hope that I could be a survivor too. It was the greatest spiritual upliftment I have ever had in my entire life."
She said: "By the following week, I summoned courage and went to an Alumna (University of Nigeria), Dr. Ubah at University College Hospital, Ibadan for palpation. She at last confirmed the presence of a lump. Cold reality. Numb shock. What kind of lump? Benign or malignant? It was rather too early to conclude as biopsy was yet to be carried out. However, it is pertinent to mention that by the time of confirmation of the malignancy, I had gathered myself, shut out emotions and was ready for whatever it would take to make me free of the affliction. My emotional preparedness, I want to believe, helped a lot in dealing with the problem. Without delay, on April 29, 1997, I had surgery at the University College Hospital, Ibadan successfully performed by a most caring team of doctors led by Dr. O.O. Akute (FRCS- Fellow Royal College of Surgeons). The best part of the good news was that my cancer was at stage 1 with the axillary nodes free of cancer cells."
Thanks to Rolanda’s Show, Anyanwu-Akeredolu came out of her quietude. But there are thousands of women and men currently groaning in silence over breast cancer and other forms of cancer in different parts of Nigeria.
Many are confused and find themselves pacing up and down, with beads of perspiration forming beneath their collars. Anyanwu-Akeredolu, who after surviving her ordeal founded Breast Cancer Association of Nigeria (BRECAN), said it is not unusual for people to groan in silence.
"While in the hospital, I noted the generally high level of fear, apprehension and secrecy among breast cancer patients. Nobody wanted to talk about it. Majority of the patients, due to ignorance and poverty were at the late stages of the disease when little help could be given. The lucky ones who had successful treatment shied away from discussing their experience. They simply got treated and walked away with sealed lips. Some that I managed to engage in discussions disclosed that their husbands would never let them go public about their experience with breast cancer, apparently fearing stigmatisation," she said.
It is in order to stop the silence associated with breast cancer that the month of October has been set aside worldwide to create awareness about the disease. In Nigeria, where the pandemic is on the increase, non-governmental organisations working in the area of cancer have used the month to hold events aimed at improving the awareness about breast cancer, the need for government to provide test centers and treatment facilities. Some have also used it to promote the need for legislations, which promote healthy living.
Interestingly, the need to pass the National Tobacco Control Bill, which is before the Senate has also found a space this month. The Senate Committee on Health led by Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello has held a public hearing on it, after it passed the second reading. The passage of this bill automatically means a domestication of the World Health Organisation’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), a global treaty which Nigeria has ratified and is obligated to domesticate. The FCTC prescribes measures that discourage smoking and promote healthy living.
Though the causes of breast cancer have not been conclusively found, tobacco use is associated with many forms of cancer and causes 90 percent of lung cancer. Tobacco smoke contains over fifty known carcinogens, including nitrosamines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Tobacco is responsible for about one in three of all cancer deaths in the developed world, and about one in five worldwide.
This is why the Programme Manager of Environmental Rights Action (ERA), Akinbode Oluwafemi, said it was time the Senate passed the National Tobacco Control Bill.
Akinbode told a press conference that "nobody at the public hearing, including tobacco industry lobbyists contended the lethal consequences of smoking."
He said: "Tobacco currently kills over 5.4 million people annually, over 70 per cent of those deaths occur in developing countries. Also, nobody at the public hearing (again including the tobacco companies) objected to the passage of the bill. The tobacco companies only raised a few inconsequential and unsubstantiated objections to a few provisions. Those objections were roundly defended through our presentations.
"In addition, the Public Hearing was the biggest opportunity to unpack some of the lies being peddled in the media about possible negative consequences of the bill. The bill as appropriately titled is to control tobacco consumption so as to reduce the deaths, ill-health, social, economic and environmental costs associated with tobacco use. The bill has no provision about outlawing or forcefully closing down tobacco factories as being circulated in a section of the media. At the public hearing, the tobacco industry and their agents finally put paid to their widely peddled fairy tale of massive job losses if the nation implement effectives tobacco control laws."
He further explained that "In fact, the British American Tobacco Company Nigeria, the company which controls over 82 per cent of the Nigerian cigarette market, in its presentation at the public hearing, allayed all fears of massive job losses when it disclosed in the presence of distinguished Senators that it has 850 staff. To further debunk the massive job loss propaganda, the Association of Tobacco Wholesalers and Association of Tobacco Retailers put their combined staff strength at about 4,000. Thanks to the public hearing and the Senate Committee on Health, Nigerians now know for a fact that the 300,000 or 500,000 job propaganda is huge lie."
He said the only way forward is that "Senator Obasanjo-Bello and members of the committee should fire at full speed to present the Bill before the Senate plenary. We urge the Senate to complement the success recorded by the Health Committee and the example shown by the Osun State House of Assembly by fast tracking the National Tobacco Control Bill. Nigerians are dying by the seconds due to tobacco addiction while tobacco manufacturers smile to the banks. Every delay is more deaths, more ill-health. Nigerians and indeed the entire world are watching. We are waiting."
While the waiting game continues, experts have pointed out that though women may be more affected, but breast cancer is not exclusive to women. In fact, experts say it kills men faster because they are flat-chested. Statistics from the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) shows that men account for 20 percent of cancer cases in the country. This means one in every hundred men, as against two in every hundred women, are affected by breast cancer.
The statistics are generally glooming. Of all cancer cases that have been recorded in Nigeria, breast cancer is the leading killer, with over 30,000 cases recorded annually. Globally, not less than 400,000 women are lost to breast cancer annually.
No wonder the Executive Director of International Union Against Cancer, Isabel Mortara, said "each year, the number of women diagnosed with breast cancer and dying from it rises and the gap in survival rates between developed and developing countries widens."
It is for this reason that Anyanwu-Akeredolu said: "Cancer in general is a word that strikes fear into the heart of everyone. It is a sure killer if allowed to take control."
Another breast cancer survivor and promoter of Bloom Cancer Care and Support Centre, Dr. Kofoworola Orija, said "our personal experience of breast cancer is indeed a social issue. Every woman battles through her disease so as to bounce back in life striving to be part once more of an inclusive society."
For breast cancer patient, there are stages of cancer, which basically indicate how far cancer cells have spread within the breast to nearby tissue and other organs. Carcinoma in situ refers to the condition when cancer is static in the ducts and has not spread to other organs of the body. It has two types known as Lobular Carcinoma in Situ and Ductal Carcinoma.
Stage 0 is that stage when the cancer cells are still within the duct. By the time it gets to stages 1 and 2, the cancer has invaded nearby tissue. At stage one, the cancer is two centimetres and once it has gone beyond two centimetres, it has entered the second stage and might have spread to the lymph nodes under the armpit. At these two stages, it is not yet critical.
The critical stages begin from stage three when the cancer has grown beyond five centimetres and have spread to the lymph nodes. It is also possible that it would have spread to the chest wall, inside the chest and the skin.
As for stage four, the cancer has invaded the lungs and the bones, aside spreading to the lymph nodes. Both stages three and four are critical.
As a way of catching the lump early and killing it, the American Cancer Society (ACS) recommends annual mammogram from age 40. Mammogram is a test carried out to detect lump. ACS also recommended clinical breast examination every three years for women in their 20s and 30s and older. Also, it advises women to know how their breasts normally feel and report any change to healthcare providers. "Women at risk should talk with their doctors regularly about the benefits and limitations of starting mammography earlier, having additional tests or having more frequent exams," the ACS recommends.
It also prescribes breast self-examination (BSE) for women starting from their 20s.
BSE, says Ebunola Anozie, who is the co-ordinator of Care Organisation Public Enlightenment, is the primary weapon through which cancer can be detected early.
What are you waiting for?

SOURCE

African Lawyers Meet in Nairobi to Build Alliance for Tobacco Control Legislations

Today, a Legal Workshop for Tobacco Control Lawyers in Africa opens in Nairobi, Kenya with over 50 lawyers from over 32 countries present. The workshop, which is jointly organized by the International Legal Consortium at the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (CTFK) and the Africa Tobacco Control Alliance (ATCA) is providing the platform for discussing common concerns and issues related to tobacco control in Africa, sharing information on effective tobacco control legislation in Africa and shaping the goals, objectives and activities of the Lawyers network.

Deliberations at the meeting will be around the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which is the first global public health treaty negotiated under the auspecies of the World Health Organization for the regulation of tobacco product manufacturing, sales and promotion. The FCTC currently has 167 countries of which Africa has 40, who are parties and are obliged to fulfill the provisions of the convention.

Providing a comprehensive overview of tobacco control legislation and the FCTC, Patricia Lambert a South African, who works with the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (CTFK) in Washington, DC noted that “Africans played a major role in the negotiations for the FCTC. It is an African document. Now is the time to translate the powerful words of the FCTC into concrete actions in every African country” “

African lawyers must be prepared for litigation with full consciousness that the tobacco companies are not lying-down. There is no need to be afraid as the FCTC has provided the guides for ensuring successful implementation of a smoke-free Africa” says Rachel Kitonyo, Chairperson of the Africa Tobacco Control Alliance (ATCA).

According to Mr. Adeola Akinremi, FCA Africa Coordinator, “This workshop is coming at the very right time for Africa bringing together lawyers at this critical time that many countries on the continent are reviewing their tobacco control legislation”

According to the WHO, “African countries are experiencing the highest increase in the rate of tobacco use amongst developing countries. In the African region tobacco consumption is increasing by 4.3 percent per year.” This development is driven in part by the tobacco industry, which increasingly targets the developing world as barriers rise and smoking rates fall in more “mature” markets around the world.

Globally, tobacco use causes one in ten deaths among adults worldwide – more than five million people a year. Unless urgent action is taken, tobacco will kill 8 million people a year by 2030, 80 percent of them in developing countries.

Countries represented at the meeting include Mauritius, Nigeria, Zambia, Burkina-faso, Lesotho, Swaziland, Kenya, Ghana, DR Congo, Gabon, Senegal, South Africa, Cameroon and Togo. Others include Malawi, Uganda, Tanzania, Mali, Madagascar, Niger, Sierra Leone, Eritrea, Cote d’ Ivoire, Chad, Congo Brazzaville, Benin, The Gambia, United States and Canada.

The Africa Tobacco Control Regional Initiative (ATCRI) promotes the adoption, implementation and enforcement of effective in-country tobacco control policies, legislation and programmes across the African continent by providing the platform for information sharing, institutional support and capacity building among all tobacco-control stakeholders.

Group urges National Assembly to pass tobacco control bill

By Olukorede Yishau

A non-governmental organisation, Environmental Rights Action (ERA), yesterday urged the National Assembly to pass the National Tobacco Control Bill.The bill, sponsored by Senator Olorunimbe Mamora, is before the Senate. Speaking at a news conference in Lagos, ERA's Programme Manager, Mr. Akinbode Oluwafemi, said: "Smoking kills. Tobacco currently kills over 5.4 million people annually, over 70 per cent of those deaths occur in developing countries."
Akinbode said contrary to the argument of tobacco giants, "the bill as appropriately titled is to control tobacco consumption so as to reduce the deaths, ill-health, social, economic and environmental costs associated with tobacco use. The bill has no provision about outlawing or forcefully closing down tobacco factories."

SOURCE

Osun House bans smoking in public places

OSUN State House of Assembly has passed a bill prohibiting smoking in public places into law.

While passing the bill into law, the Speaker, Honourable Adejare Bello, appealed to the media to assist in promoting healthy living by sensitising the public to the dangers in tobacco smoking.

Honourable Bello said though smoking was a matter of choice, but the government must be able to protect non-smokers from dangers attached to it, hence the need for the enactment of the law.

Entitled Osun State Prohibition of Smoking in Public Places Bill, 2009, the bill prohibited smoking in any part of an enclosed or partially enclosed public place or workplace.

According to the letters of the bill, tobacco smoking was prohibited within 500 metres radius of facilities like schools, health centres, sporting areas and any other place prescribed by the government for public use.

Smoking is also to be prohibited in court buildings, factories, cinema halls, theatres, video houses, disco halls and any other entertainment facilities at any time during which it is open to the public.

The state commissioner for environment is empowered to approve any part of the public places as a designated area for the purpose of smoking.

Any person who contravenes the provisions of the bill risks, on conviction, a fine of between N10,000 and N20,000 and or a jail term from three to six months, while a corporate offender shall be liable to a fine of N250,000.

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Nigeria Indeed Ratified the FCTC

Contrary to the views expressed by Eze Eluchie questioning the status of Nigeria in relation to the FCTC, Nigeria surely ratified the FCTC.

From his long submission, it is very clear that he has no idea about what has been going on in the tobacco control circle either in Nigeria or at the international community. Perhaps it would be helpful for Mr Eze to wait to learn from other Lawyers attending the Lawyer's Circle meeting in kenya. I need to note here that everyone is excited about the progress made in Nigeria.

Maybe the first thing to do is to pause and ask this question: of what use is Eze's debate at this point that Nigeria is on the verge of passing a comprehensive – FCTC compliant National Tobacco Control Bill? This question leaves us with a further question of verifying Eze's motive behind this long, unnecessary debate. Are we confronted with a force on the side of the Tobacco Companies with deliberate effort to stall the process of passing the tobacco control bill in Nigeria and subsequently in other African countries? Do we simply believe that Eze is playing to the gallery as the man who knows what others do not know? Or is he seeking cheap recognition? Whichever way it goes, we need to put this to a dead end, now!

First, to his question, Nigeria ratification document was signed by President Olusegun Obasanjo. The document bore Obasanjo’s classical signature. It was not signed by any other official. It was signed in Abuja, Nigeria and not in New York. The United Nations has strict rules about who can sign such documents. He ought to have checked on that. I do not know where Eze got the idea that "tobacco multinationals based in Nigeria would be laughing themselves silly at our folly" I think the real silly thing we can avoid here is to engage in debate that demonstrate shallow understanding of issues.

Secondly, after the FCTC ratification document was signed in Abuja by the President,it was first by fax to the UN office in New York. And because of the pressure from tobacco control advocates and Federal Ministry of Health officials on the government, a senior official of the Foreign Affairs Ministry was sent from Abuja to New York to deliver a hard copy of the document. If truly Mr. Eze conducted any research at all, he should have unravelled all these information. Obviously, I can not continue to believe that Mr Eze is genuinely unaware of all these. If it happens to be true that he has no such information, I am not certain that the Lawyer's meeting in Kenya has much to benefit from such a tobacco control lawyer, who lacks complete knowledge of happenings within his immediate country.

Was there a parliamentary session to debate FCTC ratification? The answer is NO. But there was indeed an executive council meeting in July, 2005 (I wont be able to go into too much details of the meeting in this e-mail) where the decision to ratify the FCTC was taken after consultations with the Principal Officials of the parliament. The decisions taken that day is contained in an official government gazette. Mr Eze was correct that Nigeria wanted to be part of the first 40 but Nigeria missed that target because of the four months delay in sending the document from Abuja to New York. He is also correct that tobacco control advocates were involved. Truly, 150 copies of the FCTC were shipped overnight by night bus to Abuja for the Federal Executive Council meting. Those activists also came on hand when the official government gazette got stocked at the Government Press in Lagos. Mr Eze ought to have questions at home first before going on the net. There is a long list of international treaties ratified by the Nigerian government using same process.

Anybody, that is following tobacco news from Nigeria will know that what Mr. Eze said about the tobacco companies and the Nigerian government is a bundle of lies. The government has a gazetted document placing embargo on further tobacco investments in Nigeria. It stopped Japan Tobacco from establishing an $80 million cigarette plant in Nigeria. At a recent investment meeting in China, the Nigeria Investment Promotion Council made this very clear.

Way Forward

Nigeria is currently debating the National Tobacco Control Bill. The Public Hearing was opened by no other person than Senate President, David Mark, who made categorical statements such as “We stand between health and economy. That is the truth of the matter. People who are against it are worried about the impact on the health of Nigerians and people who are for it are saying well, the nation stands to benefit from it. The simple question is: “when do you begin to worry about economy? Is it when you are dead or when you are alive?” This got a huge coverage in the media.

Mr Eze was not at the Public Hearing but he should have read about the progress made on the National tobacco control bill. Apart from the Senate President, several senators have spoken at public fora about their support for the bill. If Mr. Eze has ever been involved in legislative advocacy, he would have realised that to get to public hearing, the Bill has passed two plenary debates and there were none of his federal legislators with “ palpable animosity” to shoot down the bill. Infact lets ask ourselves how many bill get passed first reading and second reading at the Nigerian Senate? Getting the National Tobacco Control Bill up to a successful Public Hearing in a country with huge BAT investment is no mean feat. It should not be trivialised. It cannot be wished away.

It is imperative to state that with the government agencies that were present at the public hearing, which attracted the best Parliamentarians and lawyers you can think of in Nigeria today no one, not even all the tobacco companies present raised any question around Nigeria’s ratification. Infact that was the first issue that was settled before the draft bill went to parliament. Nigeria needs no spoiler now. (The Public hearing had the most respected Professor of law, Yemi Osibajo (SAN), Barrister Uche Onyeaghucha, Prof jubril Aminu, Marian Uwais, a bar leader , Nurudeen Ogbara and some Senators who are also lawyers)

What Nigeria needs now is not ratification campaign but the passage of the Tobacco Control Bill.

The intent and motive of this debate is mischievous, and we should put this debate to death.


--Regards,

Tosin Orogun
Programme Manager

Africa Tobacco Control Regional Initiative (ATCRI)
Initiative régionale pour la lutte contre le tabac en Afrique (IRCTA)
Iniciativa regional para a luta contra o tabaco em África (IRCTA)



Phone: +234[802] 390 2518, +234[1] 811 1319
Email: Tosin.Orogun@atcri.org
Skype: tosinorogun
Windows Live Messenger: tosin.orogun@atcri.org
Website: http://www.atcri.org/

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Has Nigeria indeed ratified the FCTC?

Dear Colleagues,

Has Nigeria indeed ratified the FCTC?

The title of this seems and is shocking, as it appears to contradict with the reality of the deposition of an ‘Instrument of Ratification’ of the FCTC by a Nigerian government official at the Headquarters of the appropriate place for such depositions on the 20th of October 2005.

Ratification of international treaties and conventions, it must be stressed is a technical requirement. The ‘deposition of an instrument of ratification’ is primarily symbolic and ought to be the culmination of a ratification process.

THE NIGERIAN SITUATION

Nigeria operates a Presidential system of government modeled after the system practiced in the United States of America, with a President heading the Executive arm of government and a bi-cameral legislative structure at the federal level comprised of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Signing of international treaties, conventions and instruments is the prerogative of the Executive arm of government; ratification of such instruments is done by the Legislature.

The FCTC was duly signed by Nigeria – authorization to do so having been made at a duly constituted meeting of Nigeria’s Federal Executive Council.

Ratification of international instruments on the other hand is a function of the legislative arm of government. The Executive presents signed international instruments, to the Legislators (in the case of Nigeria, to the Senate and House of Representative) for ratification.

HOW WAS THE RATIFICATION ATTAINED?
Tobacco control activists across Nigeria were engrossed in ensuring that we were not left behind in becoming one of the first 40 countries to ratify the FCTC. Towards ensuring ratification, different activists and advocates were focused on different legislators and other relevant policy makers. As such when the announcement was made of Nigeria having deposited the instrument of ratification, we were all engulfed in the euphoria of the moment and the positive advantages that would accrue to our country (and probably our prestige amongst international colleagues) by virtue of the ratification it obviously skipped our minds to ask two pertinent questions: How and When?

BACKGROUND
We first stumbled across the hint of non-ratification by Nigeria in the course of our RITC sponsored research project on “Empowering Civil Society to become effective advocates for the ratification/accession of the FCTC in the West Africa sub-region”, as some legislators seemed rather ignorant of what they ought to have ‘ratified’.

Following palpable animosity displayed by some federal legislators towards the FCTC in the course of a recent Public Hearing on a draft tobacco control bill, we undertook a more detailed study of the legislative records of proceedings for the period immediately preceding the ‘deposition of the instrument of ratification’ by Nigeria.

We were embarrassed and stunned by our findings - the FCTC (either as an entity, in whole or in part) has never been presented, debated upon or approved by neither the Nigerian Senate nor the House of Representatives acting jointly or severally. Legally and technically speaking Nigeria COULD NOT AND HAS NOT ratified the FCTC. HOW COULD THIS HAVE HAPPENED?Under the immediate past rulership of General Olusegun Obasanjo,(during which period the FCTC was purportedly ratified), due process and rule of law were distant from the regimes priorities. Countless blunders were made with regards to international legal instruments – one of the most apparent being the ceding away of some parts of Nigeria (Bakassi area) to Cameron by Executive fiat. The current regime of President Yar’Adua had to revert and represent the matter for Legislative approval to correct the anomaly.

In my thinking a ‘zealous’ bureaucrat at the Nigerian mission to the United Nations headquarters must have dipped hands into his drawers, brought out a pre-typed ‘instrument of ratification’ and probably added the name “Framework Convention on Tobacco Control” to the instrument, deposited same at the appropriate place for the deposition of ‘instrument of Ratification’ and pronto, Nigeria had ratified. Is this what a Ratification should be like? Definitely No!

IMPLICATION OF NON-RATIFICATION WHILST MASQUERADING AS A STATE PARTY TO THE FCTC.
All international instruments duly ratified by Nigeria (signed by the Executive arm and approved by the Legislative arm of government) automatically become a component part of our domestic legislations. In the case of the FCTC, it would have been possible for an interested party in Nigeria to sue the Government of Nigeria compelling it to show plans or actions towards attaining some of the time-bound specifications contained in the FCTC.

Non-Ratification means that the FCTC is unknown to the Nigerian legal system and cannot found any action in a Nigerian Court.

This situation is unfortunate and I am very sure the tobacco multinationals based in Nigeria would be laughing themselves silly at our folly.

THE WAY FORWARD.

It is a fact that one cannot expect the officials of the United Nations or the World Health Organization to begin to enquire into the format of individual country legal systems to confirm ratification or otherwise. It however behoves on interested parties to communicate the reality in the hope that records could be set right for the overriding benefit of our country.

Nigeria’s status (not ratified) with regards to the FCTC should be properly reflected to serve as an impetus to ensure the Ratification of the FCTC by Nigeria.

WHY NOW?
With Nigeria’s recent election as a non Permanent Member of the Security Council for the next one year, we are provided with a unique opportunity to ask the current regime in Nigeria to live up to Nigeria’s ranking in Africa by Ratifying the FCTC – I will bet you such pressure works like magic where we come from.

Recent fraternization between our Government and tobacco multinationals operating in Nigeria (symbolized by the recent Nigerian business delegation to the Gulf Arab States led by our Vice President, wherein British America Tobacco Plc and two other companies were showcased) highlights the reality that those in government are not unaware of the anomaly of Nigerians listing on the FCTC as a country that has ‘ratified’ the FCTC.

It must be done right for it to be useful and meaningful!Are there any other African countries or other jurisdictions in similar situations? I will like to hear from advocates from such countries and other legal experts on how to overcome this bizarre situation.

I also look forward to discussing the matter at the forthcoming Lawyers Circle workshop on the FCTC scheduled for Nairobi Kenya.

Regards

Eze Eluchie, Esq

Executive Director
People Against Drug Dependence & Ignorance (PADDI Foundation)
1st Bus Stop Road
(Kilometer 4, Owerri – Onitsha Road)
Irete, Owerri
Imo State
Nigeria
Tel: 234-83-303686234-8023237448
http://www.paddi.globalink.org/

SOURCE

Nigeria's smoking habit

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Tobacco kills close to five million people yearly worldwide with over 70 percent of deaths occurring in developing countries including Nigeria where about 12 percent of the population are addicted to nicotine.

Now the Nigerian parliament seems to have responded with a tobacco control bill.

If passed, this could be the biggest tobacco crackdown in the history of Nigeria.

From Lagos, the BBC's Fidelis Mbah, reports.

Researchers Call for Stronger Controls on Tobacco

The debate over a new and wholistic national tobacco control laws in Nigeria have been the concern of Anti-Tobacco Control Advocates, Nigerian Government and those engaging in the cultivation, processing, distribution, advertising and marketing of tobacco's lethal products.

A Public Hearing on the National Tobacco Control Bill 2009 was held on July 21 and 22 by the Nigeria Senate's Health Committe to this effect, in which over 40 civil society group made presentaions. The bill which would amend the 1990 Tobacco Control Laws of Nigeria is sponsored by Deputy Minority Leader, Senator OlorunimbeMamora, will completely domesticate the WHO Framework Convention onTobacco Control (FCTC), which Nigeria signed in 2004 and ratified in2005 but is yet to fully domesticate in Nigeria.

The imperative of a new tobacco control laws is not new to Nigeria as example abound elsewhere in the world. The New Zealand case report below not only call for a stronger control but emphaise the rich benefits of putting one in place as well as the modalities. In other word, the draft National Tobocco Control Bill 2009 is a product of a rich consultation so that when passed into law will be adequate to address the subject matter of tobacco control beyond the scope its 1990 content would.

New Zealand- Call for Stronger Controls on Tobacco

Health researchers say tobacco control policies should be strengthened or modified because they have reduced smoking by only 3%.
The issue is being discussed at the public health association conference at Otago University in Dunedin.
Professor Peter Crampton from Otago University campus in Wellington told delegates that in 1996 about 24% of New Zealanders were smokers. Despite significant reforms, he says, a decade later that figure had dropped by just 3%.
Professor Crampton says smoking prevalence has actually increased over that period in several demographics. He believes the figures illustrate that dramatic changes to tobacco policy are required.
Another researcher, Professor Richard Edwards, suggests a tobacco supply agency be established to restrict the amount of tobacco entering New Zealand.
He says the agency would buy the tobacco from the tobacco industry and then control how and where it was sold.
Professor Edwards says sales could be banned within 1km of schools and tobacco sold in plain packaging featuring only health warnings.

Copyright © 2009 Radio New Zealand

Tobacco use kills 6 million annually

by Joanne McCarthy

Tobacco use kills an estimated six million people a year, and costs $500 billion annually, the 2009 edition of The Tobacco Atlas has revealed.

The Tobacco Atlas, published by the American Cancer Society and World Lung Foundation and released at the Livestrong Global Cancer Summit currently taking place in Dublin, describes Ireland as ‘among world leaders in tobacco control’.

It confirmed that Ireland and the UK are among the countries with the strongest tobacco control policies, delivering both economic and health benefits. However, it revealed that the Irish economy lost US$980 million (€686 million) in 2007 because of tobacco use.

The economic costs emerged as a result of lost productivity, misused resources, missed opportunities for taxation and premature death. Because one in four smokers die and many more become ill during their most productive years, income loss devastates families and communities, according to the Atlas.

However, Ireland has benefited from positive steps to control tobacco, the Atlas said. It has ratified the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), a global treaty endorsed by more than 160 countries and recommended by the World Health Organization. The smoking ban in workplaces, tobacco tax increases, effective mass media campaigns, pictorial warnings on packages and advertising restrictions have all been of benefit. Irish people who want to quit smoking receive subsidised access to nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and certain clinical cessation services, the Atlas points out.

According to The Tobacco Atlas, more than two million cancer deaths per year will be attributable to tobacco by 2015. It highlights that the danger of tobacco is preventable through public policies, such as tobacco taxes, advertising bans, smoke-free public places and effective health warnings on packages.

The Tobacco Atlas has confirmed that the tobacco industry has shifted its marketing and sales efforts to countries that have less effective public health policies and fewer tobacco control resources in place.

As a result of this, most people who die from tobacco-related illnesses are in low and middle-income countries. Since 1960, global tobacco production has increased three-fold in low and middle-resource countries while halving in high resource countries.

The three-day Livestrong Global Cancer Summit is currently taking place in the RDS in Dublin. It is bringing together more than 500 world leaders, NGOs and individual advocates to showcase commitments to cancer control. Livestrong is an initiative of the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

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