Non-implementation of Tobacco Act dangerous for Nigeria – CSOs
A group of civil society organisations have called on the federal government to implement the National Tobacco Act (NTC) 2015. The group include the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (CTFK) and the Nigeria Tobacco Control Research Group (NTCRG). They said that the non-implementation of the Act is […]
A group of civil society organisations have called on the federal government to implement the National Tobacco Act (NTC) 2015.
The group include the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (CTFK) and the Nigeria Tobacco Control Research Group (NTCRG).
They said that the non-implementation of the Act is dangerous for Nigerians especially the youths.
The Deputy Director of ERA/FoEN, Akinbode Oluwafemi, Sub-Regional Coordinator West Africa of CTFK, Mrs. Hilda Ochefu and a member of the NTCRG, Dr Olupelumi Adebiyi made the call on Wednesday in Abuja at a briefing to mark the 2017 World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) which annually holds every May 31.
Oluwafemi said that some transnational tobacco companies have been exploiting the lacuna in the absence of regulatory details for full implementation of the Act by the Federal Ministry of Health.
“The WHO says that there are currently more than seven million deaths from tobacco use every year, a figure that is likely to grow to more than eight million a year by 2030 without intensified action. Tobacco use costs national economies enormously through increased health-care costs and decreased productivity.
“Some 80 percent of premature deaths from tobacco occur in low- or middle-income countries, which face increased challenges to achieving their development goals. Tobacco use is a threat to all of us, irrespective of gender, age, race, cultural or educational background. Tobacco unleashes disease, death, suffering, and impoverishment of families and national economies,” he said.
He said that the good news however is that tobacco control has been enshrined in the Sustainable Development Agenda and is now seen as one of the most effective means to help achieve SDG target 3.4 of a one-third reduction globally, by 2030, of premature deaths from non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
Akinbode regretted that while American and European countries are doing away with tobacco and tobacco companies, the companies were struggling to establish offices in Africa especially Nigeria due to the large population and the largely unregulated activities of the industry.
Ochefu on her part said aside from the renewed onslaught on the youths through very attractive and flavored cigarettes, tobacco industry front groups like the Initiative for Public Policy Analysis (IPPA) have continued to spin lies to discredit tobacco control and public health advocates.
“The IPPA it was that casted doubt on the integrity of members of the National Tobacco Control Committee (NATOCC) which is an advisory body to the health minister on how to implement the NTC Act. The Board of IPPA is peopled by individuals with remote links to the tobacco industry so their analysis of tobacco control and the economy is always clearly influenced by this unholy attachment.
“We have also warned about the threats posed by a suspicious Amendment Bill by a member of the House of Representatives which seeks to vest the powers of implementation of the NTC Act with the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) as against the Ministry of Health as is a global practice.
“To ensure the process is stymied from the engine room, the tobacco industry has been planting moles in government to ensure the implementing guidelines of the NTC Act are thwarted. The yet to be investigated shameful drama when an official of the Ministry of Justice and a representative of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) toed industry lines at the Seventh session of the Conference of Parties (COP7) meeting that held in India in 2016 is very fresh in our minds,” she said.
Adebiyi on his part call for the immediate implementation of sections of the NTC Act that do not require regulations, like smoke-free public places, restriction on underage access and ban of sale in single sticks among others.
“The Nigerian government particularly the Ministry of Health should remain un-intimidated as it works on resolutions for the effective implementation of the NTC Act. The Ministry of Health hastens investigation of the controversial recommendations of some members of the Nigerian delegation to the Conference of Parties meeting held in India in November 2016. The delegates from the Ministry of Justice and the Standards Organisation of Nigeria are of particular interest in the said controversy,” he said.