Just last Wednesday, 48 hours to the end of the
Jonathan administration, the former President
decided to give the country some parting gift by
signing six bills into law among the scores awaiting
his assent. One of the lucky few to be signed into law
was the Tobacco Control Bill. The National Tobacco
Control Act 2015 is a domestication of the World
Health Organisation’s Framework Convention on
Tobacco Control. The new law is aimed at ensuring
effective regulation and control of production,
manufacturing, sale, labelling, advertising,
promotion and sponsorship of tobacco and tobacco
products in Nigeria.
I commend ex-president Jonathan for giving Nigeria a
new legal framework for combating the monstrous
challenge of controlling the consumption of tobacco. I
dare say however that it is the easiest part that has
been done. The most challenging aspect is that of
enforcement of the law. Banning of smoking in public
places did not start today. The law has been there
but has been observed in the breach. In fact, some
states like Lagos and Ekiti have laws which ban
smoking in public places yet the act is carried out
with impunity.
In the past, tobacco advertising companies were
compelled to warn smokers of their likelihood to die
young while cigarrete manufacturing companies
were also asked to write on the pack that the
substance is dangerous to human health. These
warnings have not in anyway stopped more people
from smoking. A 2012 Global Adult Tobacco Survey
carried out in Nigeria revealed that the bulk of
Nigeria’s 4.5 million estimated adult smokers were
male. While 10 per cent of adult men in Nigeria
consumed tobacco, only 1.1 per cent of the women
did. Unfortunately, the 4.5 million smoking adults
exposed 27 million others to harmful secondhand
smoke, the report added, with government buildings
and restaurants the most likely places nonsmokers
get exposure to tobacco. The survey also estimated
that an average smoker in Nigeria spent N1, 202.5 on
tobacco products monthly. On the whole, Nigerians
spent an average of N7.45bn on tobacco monthly,
and N89.5bn yearly.
According to my research, smoking is the most
preventable cause of death in the United States.
Almost one-thirds of deaths from coronary heart
disease are attributable to smoking and secondhand
smoke. Smoking is linked to about 90 per cent of
lung cancer cases in the United States. About 20 per
cent of adult men and about 16 per cent of adult
women smoke. The highest percentage of people
who smoke are between the ages of 21 and 34.
About 54 per cent of American children ages
between three and 11 years are exposed to
secondhand smoke. On the average, smokers die
more than 10 years earlier than nonsmokers. Another
study has also shown that China has more than 300
million smokers, and that more than one million
people die each year due to smoking-related
diseases, according to the National Health and
Family Planning Commission.
Given the grave danger smokers constitute to
themselves and the society at large, it is important to
step up the enlightenment campaigns in order to rid
this country of one veritable source of preventable
death, one which kills more people than HIV/AIDS,
malaria and tuberculosis combined. Someone said
smokers are wittingly or unwittingly committing
suicide.
That’s true! For instance, smoking is said to harm
nearly every organ of the body and affects a person’s
overall health. Smoking can make it harder for a
woman to become pregnant and can affect her
baby’s health before and after birth. Smoking
increases risks for preterm (early) delivery; stillbirth
(death of the baby before birth); low birth weight;
sudden infant death syndrome (known as SIDS or
crib death); ectopic pregnancy and orofacial clefts in
infants
Smoking can also affect men’s sperm, which can
reduce fertility. Smoking affects the teeth and gums
and can cause tooth loss. It can increase risks for
cataracts (clouding of the eye’s lens that makes it
hard for people to see). Smoking is a cause of type 2
diabetes mellitus and can make it harder to control.
The risk of developing diabetes is 30-40 per cent
higher for active smokers than nonsmokers. Smoking
is also a cause of rheumatoid arthritis.
If all these health hazards affect only the smokers,
one would have shrugged and exclaimed that “It
serves them right!” However, smoking equally
affects nonsmokers. According to an investigation,
secondhand smoke constitutes danger to
nonsmokers, especially children. Nonsmokers who
have high blood pressure or high blood cholesterol
have an even greater risk of developing heart
diseases when they are exposed to secondhand
smoke. Studies show that the risk of developing
heart disease is about 25-30 per cent higher among
people exposed to environmental tobacco smoke at
home or work. Children of smokers also have more
respiratory infections than children of nonsmokers.
Given the serious health implications and
complications of smoking, why then do people still
smoke? A lot of people smoke out of curiosity, peer
pressure, for social integration, to relieve stress, and
for fun. Whatever reasons that may be advanced for
this killer habit, it is not good enough considering the
fact that the habit is suicidal. It behoves the federal
and state Ministries of Health and Information to
wage a sustained campaign against tobacco smoking
in Nigeria.
There is no doubt that this ugly phenomenon of
preventable death via smoking is a global challenge.
This newspaper in its Monday, June 1, 2015 edition
published a report on how China is dealing with the
problem. It says, “Tough anti-smoking measures
have gone into effect in the Chinese capital, where
smoking is now banned in restaurants, offices and on
public transport. Under the law rolled out on Monday,
anyone in Beijing who violates the bans, which
include smoking near schools and hospitals, must
pay $32.25. The current fine, seldom enforced, is just
$1.60. Anyone who breaks the law three times will be
named and shamed on a government website. And
businesses can be fined up to $1,600 for failing to
stamp out smoking on their premises. The
government will also no longer allow cigarettes to be
sold to shops within 100 metres of primary schools
and kindergartens, according to state media.” The
report also claimed that at least 1,300 inspectors
would be dispatched to enforce the ban, supported
by volunteers.
I do hope our government will come out with creative
and effective ways to combat this menace, especially
in public places. If anyone chooses to die young, so
be it but smokers should stop constituting public
nuisance to the non-smoking populace.
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