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Vision for Alternative Development (VALD) has stated that Labram M. Musah the General Secretary, will represent the organisation at the premiere of the LIVESTRONG Global Cancer Summit in Dublin, Ireland, from August 24 - 26, this year.
This is the first-ever event to bring together world leaders, advocates and corporations from more than 60 countries to address the global cancer burden. . . .
untries.
In 2002, there were 6.7 million cancer deaths worldwide with less than 5% of these in sub-Saharan Africa. It is estimated that by 2020, cancer could kill 10.3 million people worldwide, with a 50 to 75 percentage increase in cancer mortality in sub-Saharan Africa.
As of now Ghana has no national statistical records of cancer cases, but a research conducted by the Korle-bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) revealed it.
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A Draft legislation intended to ban smoking in public places and promote other tobacco control measures, will be presented to Cabinet by Friday, Dr George Sipa-Adjah Yankey, the Minister of Health, has disclosed.
After Cabinet consideration, the draft anti-smoking legislation is expected to be presented to Parliament for further review before becoming law.
The bill has been on the shelves of the Ministry of Health since 2005 and there are fears among some health officials that it may continue to stall in the legislative process.
Mrs Edith Wellington, the Principle Health Research Officer at the Ghana Health Service (GHS), who is currently spearheading the Focal Point for Tobacco Control, told the Daily Graphic that the bill might pass quicker if more priority and resources were given to tobacco control.
People continue to smoke wherever they find themselves without considering non-smokers around. Some instances have even led to conflicts between smokers and non-smokers.
The Mail called on Dr. (Mrs.) Evelyn Amankwah, cardiovascular diseases specialist who said parliament must expedite action to pass the bill into law.
This, she said, would help reduce any health related problems associated with smoking and contribute significantly to the cutting down of pressure on the country’s budget to the health sector.
She said research has generated evidence that secondhand smoke causes the same problems as direct smoking.
“Lung cancer, cardiovascular diseases and lung ailments such as emphysema, bronchitis and asthma are examples of these problems” she said.
Dr. Amankwah said analyses show that lifelong non-smokers with partners who smoke in the home have a 20–30% greater risk of lung cancer than non-smokers who live with non-smokers. “Non-smokers exposed to cigarette smoke in the workplace have an increased lung cancer risk of 16–19%,” she said. . . .
She called for a ban on smoking in bars and restaurants to substantially improve the air quality in such establishments and the ban on public smoking would as well ease the daily conflicts between smokers and non-smokers.
Results: Of 7096 eligible individuals resident in the sampled households, 6258 (88%; median age 31 (range 14-105) years; 64% female) participated. The prevalence of self-reported current smoking (weighted for gender differences in response) was 3.8% (males 8.9%, females 0.3%), and of ever smoking 9.7% (males 22.0%, females 1.2%). Smoking was more common in older people, those of Traditionalist belief, those of low educational level, the unemployed, and the less affluent. Smokers were more likely to drink alcohol and to have friends who smoke. About 10% of cigarettes were smuggled brands. About a third of smokers were highly or very highly dependent.
Conclusions: Despite rapid economic growth and a sustained tobacco industry presence, smoking prevalence in Ghana is low, particularly among younger people. This suggests that progression of an epidemic increase in smoking has to date been avoided.
The Coalition of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in Tobacco Control (CNTC) has called on government to expedite action on a draft bill at the Ministry of Health awaiting cabinet consideration and eventual passage by Parliament. The call was made on Saturday at a post-World-No-Tobacco durbar organized by the Coalition to sensitise the Okaishie community in Accra on the harm of tobacco on the heath of users and the public and the need to pass a law in Ghana o control tobacco use.
The bill which is based on the input of the World Health Organisation (WHO) framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FTTC) seeks among other things, to ban smoking in public places and also stop advertisements on cigarettes.
A survey conducted by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) has indicated that 50 out of 1000 pupils surveyed smoke cigarette every day, a Principal Health Research Officer of GHS, Mrs Edith Wellington, has said.
Mrs Wellington said though the numbers might not be that huge the rate at which pupils were taking to smoking was alarming and drastic measures were needed to address the problem.
In an address to mark the post World No Tobacco Day in Accra last Saturday, Mrs Wellington said the measures were needed because children who smoked at their early stages stood the risk of many harmful effects of the smoke and were likely to get addicted at an adult age.
The event was organised by Coalition of Non-governmental Organisations in Tobacco Control (CNTC)
Management of Coalition of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), in tobacco control (CNTC), on Saturday organized a durbar at Okaishie, in Accra to educate the people on the harmful effects of tobacco smoking.
Mr. Oscar Bruce, Vice President of the CNTC, said it was the desire of the coalition to "create awareness on adverse effects of tobacco smoking throughout the country in order to prevent and protect the second hand smoker in particular."
He said people needed to be educated and informed on the health hazards of tobacco smoking to ensure compliance of the Tobacco Control Bill when passed into law.
"We will not rest in carrying out outreach programmes to include those in the rural areas until the Tobacco Control Bill is passed into law," he stressed.
Mrs. Edith Wellington, Principal Health Research Officer of Ghana Health Service (GHS), expressed shock over emerging trend of teenage smokers in the country
The Minister of Health, Dr George Sipa Yankey has directed the enforcement of regulations that prohibit the smoking of tobacco or cigarettes in public places.� He said this is because of the dangerous effect that tobacco smoking at such places has on the second hand smoker.
Speaking to the Times after the launch of the “World No Tobacco Day” in Accra, yesterday he said “law birth weights in babies, impairment in physical and intellectual development of children born to smokers, lung infections and other medical problems” are also proof of the effect second hand smoking brings. As such, it the unborn child is crucial to enforce to the last letter, the ‘No Tobacco Smoking at Public places regulation.
Dr Mustapha Ahmed, Member of Parliament (MP), Ayawaso East and Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health, on Tuesday said efforts should be made to lay before Parliament, the Tobacco Usage Bill to help control the use of tobacco in public places. He said the government was ready to put in place policies and programmes to curb tobacco use in public if the Bill was passed by Parliament.
“In the meantime we need to function as educators by setting the example of abstaining from tobacco use.” Dr Ahmed made the appeal in a statement on the floor of the House, in commemoration of World No Tobacco Day, which fell on May 31, on the theme: “Tobacco Health Warnings.” He said Ghana was at the early stage of tobacco control, while the public was not fully aware of the severity of the health hazards from tobacco use.
Dr Ahmed said there was no need for the country to wait for the catastrophe attached to tobacco use.
Parliament has indicated its preparedness to ban tobacco use in public places with a call on the Ministry of Health to speed up the "Tobacco Usage Bill" and lay it before the House of the Legislature for consideration.
This came to light when Members from both sides of Parliament (Majority and Minority) in contributing to a statement laid on the floor by Hon. Major (Rtd) Dr. Mustapha Ahmed, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on health and MP for Ayawaso Central, on "World No Tobacco Day" embraced the idea to ban tobacco usage in public places in Accra yesterday.
Hon. Joseph Yieleh Chireh, Member of Parliament (MP) for Wa West, who doubles as the Minister of Local Government and Regional Development in his contribution to the statement on the need to ban tobacco use in public places, tasked his colleagues to move a little further in terms of legislation to bring the situation under control.
Vision for Alternative Development (VALD), a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) has advised government to make an 100% tax increase in the prices of tobacco products in the country, to make the product unattractive and expensive for children.
The organization said the tobacco industry claimed that high cigarette taxes encouraged smuggling from low tax jurisdiction. Briefing the media in Accra yesterday, the Executive Director (of VALD), Mr. Issah Ali, urged the government to pass the tobacco bill into law, to protect present and future generations from hazardous effects of tobacco use.
He said the bill, when passed, would ban smoking in Public places in Ghana, in accordance with the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) Article 8, which encourages parties to "recognize that scientific evidence has unequivocally established that exposure to tobacco smoke causes death, disease and disability."
A report on a survey, to assess the levels of Second Hand Smoke (SHS) in selected places, has indicated that 80 per cent of workers in smoking and non-smoking establishments were in favour of smoke-free laws, citing health as a reason.
The report said even though all smoking venues, except one, had ventilation systems, 96 per cent had Particulate Matter of 2.5 level, which fell into hazardous category of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Air Quality Index.
According to Mr Winfred Agbenyikey, who conducted the research, the ventilation system cannot protect people from SHS exposure. . . .
Presenting a Paper at a day's seminar on the theme: "Ban on Smoking in Public Places," for senior staff of the EPA in Accra on Thursday, he said bar owners interviewed claimed customers' preference and concerns over loss of revenue as their reason for allowing smoking in their establishments.
He, however, noted that owners of non-smoking locations, which had gone smoke-free voluntarily, six months before the study, reported a hike in attendance and increased revenue after the ban.
Mr. Issah Ali, Executive Director of the Vision for Alternative Development (VALD), a development-oriented, non-governmental organization (NGO), has urged government to ensure the passage of the Tobacco Control Bill (TCB) without delay. This, he said, could go a long way to clamp down on illicit trade on tobacco products to help reduce smoking-related diseases among Ghanaians.
Mr. Ali who disclosed these to GNA in Accra at the weekend, suggested that the draft be put before Parliament without any further delay.
The Executive Director, who is also a Board Member of the African Tobacco Control Alliance (ATCA), said the Organization had sensitized stakeholders on the tobacco industry, and supported the strengthening of the coalition of NGOs on health.
The campaign against smoking has received a major boost with an announcement by the Department of State for Health and Social Welfare, informing the general public, institutions and organisations of the coming into force of the law prohibiting smoking in public places (Public Places Act 1998).
This law, according to the release, signed by Dr Mariatiou Jallow - secretary of state for Health and Social Welfare, came into being through an Act of the National Assembly, under the Prohibition of Smoking (public places) Act of 1998, and it was later assented to by His Excellency, the president, Professor, Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh, on the 23 September 1998, thereby making public smoking unlawful and punishable by law. The release added that the act defines public places to include all government premises, all work places, hospitals or health facilities, private premises, vehicles and shops to which the public have access.
FINDINGS
British American Tobacco, and latterly the International Tobacco Company and its successor the Meridian Tobacco Company, have been manufacturing cigarettes in Ghana since 1954.
After an initial sales boom in the two decades after independence in 1957, the sustained further increases in consumption typical of the tobacco epidemic in most countries did not occur. Possible key reasons include the taking of tobacco companies into state ownership and a lack of foreign exchange to fund tobacco leaf importation in the 1970s, both of which may have inhibited growth at a key stage of development, and the introduction of an advertising ban in 1982. BAT ceased manufacturing cigarettes in Ghana in 2006.
CONCLUSION
The tobacco industry has been active in Ghana for over 50 years but with variable success. The combination of an early advertising ban and periods of unfavourable economic conditions which may have restricted industry growth are likely to have contributed to the sustained low levels of tobacco consumption in Ghana to date. . . .
What this paper adds
This paper provides the first account of tobacco industry activity in Ghana.
It indicates that the current low prevalence and tobacco consumption in the country are likely to be attributable at least in part to:
• Constraints on industry growth arising from foreign exchange shortages and the taking of the industry into majority government/public ownership at a time of rapidly increasing demand in the mid 1970s
• The imposition of a comprehensive advertising ban soon afterwards, in 1982 It also demonstrates that progression of the tobacco epidemic in developing countries is not inevitable, and that early restrictions on industry growth and advertising may be important steps in prevention.