CIVIL Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), has called for stringent measures to check the consumption of tobacco in the country as it kills 16,100 Nigerians annually.
The Executive Director, CISLAC, Auwal Musa, Rafsanjani, made the call on Monday while briefing the press as part of activities to mark the 2021 World No Tobacco Day (WNTD).
“Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) joins the government of Nigeria, the tobacco control community in Nigeria and the rest of Africa, and indeed, the rest of the world in celebration of the 2021 World No Tobacco Day.
“World No Tobacco Day is an initiative of the World Health Organization and is observed on May 31 every year. The campaign aims to spread awareness about the dangers of tobacco and its negative impact on health, as well as the exploitation of the nicotine industry that is geared towards the youth and children in particular. It also aims to reduce the diseases and deaths caused by tobacco consumption. It essentially presents opportunities to spread awareness of the risks of tobacco use.
“The 2021 WNTD theme, ‘Commit to Quit’ makes a special plea to smokers around the world to understand the risks associated with tobacco use and make informed decisions and commitment to quit the habit, and thereby ensuring better quality life.
“This year’s theme is particularly timely, as the world continues to struggle to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, especially as available research suggests smokers are at higher risk of developing severe disease and death from COVID-19.
“Over 1.3 billion people in the world use tobacco, and over 80 per cent of this population live in low-and-middle-income countries where the burden of tobacco-related illness and death is very heavy. Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and has one of the leading tobacco markets with Commit to Quit is not only a call on smokers to ditch the habit, it is also a charge on government, health practitioners, the media, civil society, and every stakeholder to commit to helping smokers quit.
“It is on this backdrop that the theme also highlights the importance of cessation programmes which have the ultimate objective of reducing demand for tobacco.
“This calls for clearly defined efforts to help smokers break the addiction to nicotine and quit smoking ultimately rather than relying on the ineffective approach of leaving smokers to quit on their own.
“The measures include MPOWER- Monitoring tobacco use and prevention policies; Protecting people from tobacco smoke; Warning about the dangers of tobacco; Enforcing bans on tobacco advertising; Promotion and sponsorship; and Raising taxes on tobacco.
“Specifically, Article 14 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) promotes tobacco cessation awareness and support for tobacco dependence.
“While Nigeria has put in place mechanisms for implementation of some of the FCTC measures, unfortunately, the measure of adopting cessation programmes designed to offer help for smokers to quit remains largely underutilized.
“While we continue to delay on implementation of cessation programmes, the tobacco industry is already miles ahead in investing massively in strategies and technology aimed at initiating young people to their products as they are eager to flood Nigeria and the rest of Africa with new products like e-cigarettes, misleadingly brandishing them as quit aids and harm reduction products.
“As we celebrate the WNTD today, CISLAC is calling on government at all levels in Nigeria to invest in promoting cessation, by developing evidence-based, cost-effective strategies and guidelines, and allocating adequate resources for program’s implementation. Free counseling must be provided for quitters and mass communication initiatives that encourage quitting must be part of cessation programs.
“For optimal effect, governments must implement tobacco cessation programs as part of a comprehensive tobacco control approach with other demand-reduction tobacco control policies, notably higher tobacco taxes, smoke-free spaces, bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, large pictorial health warnings on tobacco packages, and anti-tobacco mass media campaigns,” he said.
