Do the needful

I hope no one gets to mix this up with a certain story that ruled the airwaves for weeks sometime October 2013. As a country, Nigerians are one of the most 'aware' people with much debate on various issues of interest going on from places like the National Assembly to that viewing center just around your neighborhood.

Infact, some people insist that we talk too much and do little thereafter. Such persons usually have a list they reel off to back their perspective that the average Nigerian citizen loves to talk but is reluctant to act upon his/her opinions rather content with just talking.

I do not know about you but I disagree with these viewpoint as it seems more a case of people not been sure how they can constructively act upon their beliefs on social matters. This is not the case though with the ongoing Tobacco Control Project using Social Media that seeks to give citizens the platform to add their voice and influence what laws are made in Nigeria for the benefit of everyone.

As a policy change and public health campaign project, the objective is use Social Media that a lot of Nigerians are active on to advance tobacco control and support the passage of a comprehensive domestic Tobacco Control (TC) law compliant with the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), to which Nigeria is a signatory.

Officially launched in August 2013, the project on November 1, 2013 published a petition online http://tinyurl.com/lg7y6a7  (though its also available offline) seeking to aggregate signatures from Nigerians attesting to the need for a Tobacco Control Bill to be passed in Nigeria NOW!

So far, over three thousand (3000+) persons have appended their signatures both online & offline and we would like to celebrate everyone who has participated till date. However, it is important to note that signature collection continues until November 30, 2013 so we have got just over seventy-two (72) hours to get YOU and YOUR CONTACTS to do the needful!

Therefore, we are calling on Nigerians both home & abroad who have signed and others yet to append their signatures to;

1) Sign the petition here (http://tinyurl.com/lg7y6a7) and/or share your signature status on social media i.e. facebook & twitter.

2) Encourage friends, family & colleagues to add their voice to the Tobacco Control cause by signing the petition

3) Visit, like and/or follow us via our various social media platforms  (please see end of this post) while sharing our content with others.

Lets do the needful for a smoke-free Nigeria to emerge!

We are on:

- Twitter: @TobaccoCtrl

- Facebook: Visit and like Tobaccoctrl

- Google Plus: add Tobaccoctrl to your circle

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Our cry for Tobacco cessation in Nigeria

Cigarettes have been the best-selling type of tobacco product for generations. As a result of their widespread use and the resulting catastrophic public health consequences, including causing more than 443,000 deaths annually, cigarettes have been the main focus of public health regulation and community education efforts designed to prevent tobacco initiation and encourage cessation. Cigarette regulation and education began in earnest after the 1964 Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking and Health, and became more prevalent after several Attorney-Generals brought suit against cigarette and smokeless tobacco manufacturers in the late 1990s in the United States.

The resulting Master Settlement Agreement (MSA), Smokeless Master Settlement Agreement (SMSA) and four individual state settlements drove up cigarette prices, imposed restrictions on marketing to youth and sent a strong public message about the hazards of smoking. It also raised awareness about the cigarette manufacturers’ manipulation of scientific data and tobacco products.

Decades of deception by the tobacco industry prompted this action by the Attorney- Generals, who alleged that the industry manipulated data and successfully pressured scientists to hide the true risks associated with smoking, including controlling what information was made available to the public manipulating the tobacco plant itself in order to increase the level of nicotine and make tobacco more addictive; and manipulating the design and manufacture of cigarettes to assure the most effective delivery of this addictive component.

These allegations were proven by the federal government in U.S. v. Philip Morris when a federal court found that the major cigarette manufacturers violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).

As a result of five decades of increasingly stringent regulation and effective education, mostly at the state and local level, cigarette sales have declined steadily in the US specifically. However, proving their business savvy, cigarette manufacturers have been adding to their product lines with novel tobacco products designed to escape the more effective regulations applicable to cigarettes and smokeless tobacco. Other businesses have also entered the market with their new, non-cigarette tobacco products. As sales of these products increase and the public continues to be exposed to the harm that they cause, the need for regulation and public health education becomes critical.

Some non-cigarette tobacco products, such as cigars and “little cigars,” have an established presence in the marketplace and have enjoyed steady or increasing sales as cigarette sales decline. Emerging tobacco products, such as dissolvable tobacco products, electronic cigarettes, and hookah, enter the market unencumbered by restrictions designed to limit the enticement of youth, reduce youth access or deter adult consumption. Yet all of these products present the same threat of addiction and negative health consequences of cigarettes that requires action be taken by regulators in Nigeria.

The Health Minister has the power and ability to adopt comprehensive regulations that would have a positive impact on public health throughout Nigeria and must take action now because delay or inaction provides the tobacco industry with wide reign in designing, marketing and selling tobacco products that entice and addict young Nigerians through many of the tactics long-forbidden with respect to cigarettes.

We therefore urge you to sign our petition here and take a stand to drastically reduce the use of tobacco products across the country.

Link up with us on the following social media platforms:

- Twitter: Follow @TobaccoCtrl

- Facebook: Visit and like Tobaccoctrl

- Google Plus: add Tobaccoctrl to your circle

- 2go: add Tobaccoctrl

PRESS RELEASE

FELA DUROTOYE, STELLA DAMASUS & ATOM LIM SIGN ONLINE PETITION TO ENCOURAGE HONORABLE HEALTH MINISTER, PROF. ONYEBUCHI CHUKWU IN HIS COMMITMENT TO PASS COMPREHENSIVE TOBACCO CONTROL LEGISLATURE IN NIGERIA.

Abuja, Nigeria                                                    

Tobacco Control (TC) Celebrity Cause Champions, Fela Durotoye, Stella Damasus and Atom Lim lent their voice to the Tobacco Control (TC) cause by appending their signature to the ongoing petition addressed to the Hon. Minister of Health, Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu and encouraging him in his commitment and quest to pass a comprehensive Tobacco Control Bill in Nigeria.

The CCCs have shared their signing of the petition on their social media platforms and encourage other citizens to do the same. The campaign canvassing for Nigerians to sign the petition is ongoing and continues throughout  the month of November 2013 as we advocate for more citizens to append their name to this worthy cause NOW! The petition can be signed on http://tobaccoctrl.ng/petition-to-the-health-minister/.

The Tobacco Control Nigeria is a policy change and public health campaign project using Social Media to advance tobacco control and support the passage of a comprehensive domestic Tobacco Control (TC) law compliant with the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), to which Nigeria is a signatory. Thus, the petition seeks to collate signatures of Nigerians across the country seeking follow-up actiono to public utterances made in May & July 2013 both by the President, Goodluck Ebere Jonathan and the Hon. Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu on making Nigeria smoke-free and reducing the smoking prevalence in the country.

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For more information about the Tobacco Control Campaign Project, please visit

Website: http://tobaccoctrl.ng/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TobaccoCtrl

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TobaccoCtrl

Google Plus: https://gplus.to/TobaccoCtrl  

2go: Tobaccoctrl 

Join the Chorus

Many Nigerians are unaware of the harmful effects of secondhand smoke (shs) which accounts for an alarming one in ten tobacco-related deaths globally. If you don’t smoke, chances are that you know someone who does, or you are exposed to secondhand smoke somehow e.g. visiting public places like hotels, offices amongst others. It is noteworthy that tobacco use kills five million people in the world each year- a statistics greater than that of deaths resulting from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined.

The Health Minister’s failure to regulate some products like tobacco can lead consumers to think that the unregulated products are safer than other products because they are manufactured, advertised, marketed, sold and distributed in ways that cigarettes and smokeless tobacco are not.

This problem is exacerbated by the tobacco industry’s efforts to develop new products that exploit regulatory loopholes and to acquire established businesses that manufacture and distribute novel products. As the tobacco industry diversifies its product lines, it continues to design and market its products to create and sustain nicotine addiction.

It is not a coincidence that as the rate of cigarette smoking decreases, the rate of using other tobacco products such as cigars, dissolvables, e-cigarettes, hookah etc increases. This is troubling based on the known damages caused by many of these products and the potential adverse health consequences of other tobacco products, both to individual users and at the population level.

While cigar smoking in the Nigeria was historically a behavior of older men, cigar smoking is now a behavior that skews younger, with young adults (age 18–24) smoking cigars at a significantly higher rate (15.9%) than adults age 25–44 (7.2%), age 45–64 (4.9%), and age 65 or older (1.8%).

Approximately 13.1 percent of high school students are current cigar smokers, while 6.6 percent of adults regularly use cigars. The Health Minister must assert jurisdiction over and regulate all tobacco products to protect the public health. The scientific evidence regarding the prevalence of the use of these products and the data regarding the harm that these products cause makes the case for this regulation.

There is no reasonable justification to continue to allow so many tobacco products to go unregulated at the federal and state level considering the harm that they pose and the specific and broad authority possessed by the Ministry.

The Federal Ministry of Health should fulfill its mandate of protecting the public health by asserting jurisdiction over and regulating all tobacco products.

We hope you will add your voice to the chorus urging the Health Minister to act now. Seize the opportunity to make your voice heard in this good cause as we urge you to sign our petition here  taking a stand to drastically reduce the use of tobacco products across the country.

Link up with us on the following social media platforms:

- Twitter: Follow @TobaccoCtrl

- Facebook: Visit and like Tobaccoctrl

- Google Plus: add Tobaccoctrl to your circle

- 2go: add Tobaccoctrl

Let Your Voice be Heard!

Intense warnings over the past 30 years about the hazards of tobacco have diminished but not curtailed its use. One in six of our nation’s children risk becoming regular smokers and one-quarter of them or five million individuals will die unnecessarily from their addiction. Studies have shown that after trying to quit for over a year, 95% of teenagers give up and start smoking again. It is easier to avoid tobacco altogether than it is to quit once you have started smoking.

Therefore, it is surprising that even though tobacco is responsible for 30% of all cancers and is the leading cause of preventable death in Nigeria, there is not yet a comprehensive bill that adequately regulates the tobacco industry in the interest of Nigerians.

A large proportion of these deaths are caused by respiratory diseases such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and lung cancer. 70% of smokers start before the age of 18 and 94% before the age of 25 years, when lung damage already begins. The proposed Tobacco Control Bill contains measures to prevent children and young people from picking up their first cigarettes as even today, cigarettes kill more people than road accidents, AIDS, drugs, alcoholism, fires, murders, and suicides combined. While we are fighting the scourge, the tobacco industry is working overtime to attract youths. This must stop!

The Social Media Campaign on Tobacco Control in Nigeria invites everyone to sign its petition to encourage the Honourable Minister of Health in his Commitment to pass comprehensive tobacco control legislation in Nigeria.

Seize the opportunity to make your voice heard in this good cause as we urge that you join us by signing our petition here  taking a stand to drastically reduce the use of tobacco products across the country.