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AMOS DUNIA
Minister of Health, Professor Babatunde Osotimehin has described the economic argument for the production of tobacco in Nigeria as making nonsense of the risk it portends to the people.
Prof. Osotimehin, who stated this at an interactive dinner, organized by Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora in conjunction with Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth, Nigeria, to support the ‘National Tobacco Control Bill’, said the time has come for Nigeria to do everything possible to ban tobacco production in the country.
The Minister of Health lamented the havoc cigarette smoking has caused the nation, saying that while tobacco companies employed about 20,000 people, their products kill an average of 100,000 people per annum, a development he said is unacceptable to Nigeria.He said on assumption of office, he made it clear to British American Tobacco (BAT) that visited him, seeking a working relationship, that there was no way such an understanding can take place because of the overall health interest of the people.
According to Osotimehin, “I want to tell you that I am very passionate about anti-tobacco legislation. The British-American Tobacco (BAT) people once came to talk to me on how we could work together but I said no! I cannot work with BAT people because the human cost of tobacco is enormous.We should do everything possible to ban tobacco smoking because it does not add value at all. Some people talk about the economic value of tobacco companies, but I don’t believe there is any economic value because when they employ 20,000 people, they kill 100,000.”
He, therefore, urged Nigerians, particularly those in positions of authority, to work hard to ensure that Nigeria do not add to the burden already being suffered from HIV infections. The minister, therefore, assured that the Federal Government through the Ministry of Health would throw its weight behind the Anti-Tobacco Bill.
Earlier in his address, convener of the interactive session, Senator Mamora, noted that the United States of America, the highest consumer of tobacco, had legislated against tobacco, stressing that the fact remains that a poison remains a poison no matter how it is coloured.
According to Senator Mamora, “It is worrisome that tobacco companies are leaving the developed countries for the less developed, particularly Africa with Nigeria being the largest market, owing to lack of adequate legislation to curb the danger it portends on the citizenry.
In her remarks, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, assured that her committee has put in motion necessary arrangements to ensure the passage of the National Tobacco Control Bill with a view to enthroning a regime of health safety in the country.
Abuja — The Minister of Health, Professor Babatunde Osotimehin yesterday revealed the Federal Government's commitment to check the consumption of tobacco in the country, just as the Senate Committee on Health also disclosed that it had perfected arrangement to ensure the passage of the National Tobacco Control Bill.
Professor Osotimehin who spoke at an interactive session organised by the sponsor of the Bill, Senator Olurunimbe Mamora in Abuja decried the huge impact of the harmful effect tobacco smoking is having on the citizens.
He said the government being conscious of the security and welfare of the people, would do anything to pass the law against tobacco consumption.
He said, "I want to tell you that I am very passionate about anti-tobacco legislation. This British-American Tobacco (BAT) people once came to talk to me on how we could work together but I said no! I cannot work with BAT people because the human cost of tobacco is enormous. We should do everything possible to ban tobacco smoking because it does not add value at all.
"Some people talk about the economic value of tobacco companies but I don't believe there is any economic value because when they employ 20,000 people, they kill 100,000.
Govt committed to checking tobacco usage, says minister
THE Minister of Health, Prof. Babatunde Osotimehin, has said the Federal Government is committed to enacting laws to check and control the consumption of tobacco in the country.
Also, the Senate Committee on Health said it had perfected arrangements to ensure the passage of the National Tobacco Control Bill with a view to enthroning a regime of health safety in the country.
At an interactive session convened by sponsor of the bill, Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora, for stakeholders at the Transcorp Hotel in Abuja on Wednesday night, Osotimehin lamented the havoc done to human health by tobacco-smoking, noting that the government would do everything possible to get a law passed against tobacco consumption.
He said: "I want to tell you that I am very passionate about anti-tobacco legislation. This British-American Tobacco (BAT) people once came to talk to me on how we could work together. But I said 'no', I cannot work with BAT people because the human cost of tobacco is enormous.
"We should do everything possible to ban tobacco smoking because it does not add value at all. Some people talk about the economic value of tobacco companies, but I don't believe there is any economic value because when they employ 20,000 people, they kill 100,000. We should try as much as possible not to do things that will add to the burden we suffer from HIV. So, we will try and put our weight behind this bill".
In a remark, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, said her committee would give the bill a serious attention in view of the urgent need to rescue Nigerians from some unhealthy practices.
Citing Section 17 of the 1999 Constitution, Bello said the government owed it a primary duty to ensure the safety of its citizens, adding that this should include health safety.
Mamora, in his remark, noted that even the United States of America, which was the highest consumer of tobacco, had legislated against tobacco.
"One thing we cannot run away from is that a poison remains a poison, no matter what happens. There is no slight poison. And we are saying that tobacco is a poison", Mamora said.
Senator Jibrin Aminu on his part urged the Federal Government to simply close down all tobacco companies in the country because of their ill effects to the society.
Aminu, who said he quit smoking since 1963, advised the government not to adopt the United States' approach because, according to him, the U.S. simply increased the taxes paid by tobacco companies, a situation which he noted, would only transfer the tax burden to the consumers.
Aminu said: "I don't like that approach, we should discourage and prevent it completely. We should not be deceived by the sweet messages propagated by these tobacco companies".
It is also a fact that stringent measures aimed at reducing smoking in Europe and America have driven the tobacco industry to developing countries like Nigeria.
It is also a fact that stringent measures aimed at reducing smoking in Europe and America have driven the tobacco industry to developing countries like Nigeria.
