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
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