Group Calls for Quick Passage of Tobacco Bill

Group urges Senate to expedite action on Tobacco bill

By Ben Ezeamalu

Sequel to the July 20 and 21 senate public hearing on the National Tobacco Control Bill 2009 (NTCB 2009) organised by the Senate Committee on Health, a non-governmental organisation, Environmental Rights Action/Friend of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), has urged the National Assembly to fast track the presentation of the bill before the Senate plenary.

Akinbode Oluwafemi, the programme manager of ERA/FoEN, made this call, yesterday, at a press briefing to update the media on the status of the NTCB 2009, in Lagos."The bill has passed the first and second reading, and there was a public hearing in July. Now we are expecting that the Senate Committee on Health will present the 'new bill' with the inputs of the public hearing to the plenary for discussion," said Mr. Oluwafemi.The National Tobacco Control Bill 2009The bill, sponsored by Adeleke Olorunnimbe Mamora, the senator representing Lagos East Constituency, sought to regulate and control the manufacture, sales, distribution, and marketing of tobacco products in the country.

While the bill had no provision for forcefully closing down tobacco factories, it attempted to control tobacco consumption so as to reduce the deaths, ill-health, social, economic, and environmental costs associated with tobacco use.It also sought to domesticate the World Health Organisation - initiated Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) which has already been ratified by 167 countries.

The FCTC is an internationally co-ordinated response to combat the tobacco epidemic. It tackles tobacco industry marketing campaigns executed in different countries and cigarette smuggling, often co-ordinated in many countries by the tobacco industries.Mr. Oluwafemi said tobacco companies and their agents finally debunked their initial tales of massive job losses, up to 500, 000, if the country implements effective tobacco control laws during the public hearing.

"In fact, the British American Tobacco Company of Nigeria, which controls over 82 percent of the Nigerian cigarette market, disclosed that it has only 850 staff. The Association of Tobacco Wholesalers and Association of Tobacco Retailers put their combined strength at about 4, 000," Mr. Oluwafemi said.Great expectationsAccording to Mr. Oluwafemi, the NTCB 2009 will not suffer implementation problems that previous public health bills have suffered."We'd learnt our lessons from those bills that there were no clear provisions about who is going to enforce what? And in cases where they overlap, who does what?

When you look at this bill clearly, it has everything well defined," he said.On October 20, the Osun State House of Assembly passed the Osun State Prohibition of Smoking in Public Places Bill, 2009, making her the first and only state to pass the bill yet.Mr. Oluwafemi said though Osun State had made more progress than the national bill, the enthusiasm shown during the public hearing by members of the public and the parliamentarians would enhance the speedy passage of the bill."We don't have any doubt that the people in the senate, from their submissions during the preliminary and second hearing of this bill, will give Nigerians a strong public health bill," the environmentalist said.

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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."

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Osun bans smoking in public places

Wale Folarin

Henceforth smoking in public places in Osun State has become illegal. The government said yesterday that anybody who smokes in public places throughout the state risks being jailed for three to six months and or a fine of between N10,000 to N250,000.

This move got a legal teeth following the Prohibition of Smoking in Public Places Bill 2009, passed into law yesterday by the state House of Assembly, which was meant to protect non-smokers from dangers attached to smoking.

According to the bill, there shall be no access to tobacco within 500 metre radius of public places like schools, health centers, sporting areas and any other place described by government for public use.

Addressing the parliament, the Speaker, Adejare Bello, who restated the resolve of the state government to give adequate protection to non-smokers in the state, also said that the bill prohibits smoking in any part of an enclosed or partially enclosed public place or workplace.

He said that the bill also prohibits smoking 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.

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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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