It has been established that some of the debilitating effects of smoking include lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (chronic bronchitis and emphysema), stroke, ischaemic heart disease and impotence. It is also known that smoking is the single most preventable cause of mortality across the world. To further buttress this point, we’d like to just punch out the numbers again –
· Globally, it is estimated that there are currently 4 million tobacco attributable deaths each year, with current trends driving a rise to 10 million deaths per year by the 2030s
· Approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths are known to occur annually among adult nonsmokers as a result of exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS)
· 4.7 million Nigerian adults aged 15 years or older use tobacco products and are therefore prone to tobacco-related deaths
It is important to note that since the commencement of anti-smoking campaign in the USA in 1964, more than 8 million lives have been saved which is an indication of the effectiveness of anti-smoking campaigns. In addition to this, the countries that have domesticated the WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) have been experiencing significant reduction in the prevalence of smoking in their countries. A major example is Ireland where there was 33% reduction in smoking prevalence in one year as a result of immense public support and high level of compliance for the tobacco control law.
At
the moment, an executive-sponsored bill on Tobacco Control has been forwarded
to the National Assembly and there are also two different bills before the
National Assembly sponsored by Senator
Ifeanyi Okowa and Hon. Yacoob Bush-Alebiosu. We can say that without a doubt
Nigeria stands to benefit immensely from the enactment of a FCTC-compliant
National Tobacco Control law and it behooves us as patriotic citizens of Nigeria to call on
members of the National Assembly to ensure relevant processes are put in place
for speedy passage of a FCTC-compliant Tobacco Control bill.
We
will like to therefore implore you to kindly add you voice to the call for
speedy passage of the bill by signing the petition on this link – http://tobaccoctrl.ng/pass-national-tobacco-control-bill-ntcb-now/
You
can also support the Tobaccoctrl campaign by visiting our Facebook page, like
our post, drop your comments and share the posts widely with your friends. Let’s
help make Nigeria a SMOKE-FREE country TODAY!
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Twitter: Follow @TobaccoCtrl
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Facebook: Visit and like Tobaccoctrl
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Google Plus: add Tobaccoctrl to your circle
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