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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)
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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.
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.
The Ministry of Health will, by next month, announce a ban on smoking in public places.
That is the first step in the ministry's bid to protect non-smokers, including children, from the deadly effects of tobacco. Passive smoking or the inhaling of second-hand smoke has been proved to be as dangerous as smoking itself, since it also causes serious illnesses such as heart and lung diseases, as well as cancers.
In a speech read on his behalf at a stakeholders sensitisation workshop on the ban on smoking in public and workplaces held in Accra, a Deputy Minister of Health, Mr. Abraham Dwoma Odoom, said in spite of the challenges that the ministry was likely to face, it had to embark on the ban to protect non-smokers from tobacco-related diseases and possible death.
The day's workshop was organised by the Coalition of Non-governmental Organisations for Tobacco Control (CNTC) to highlight the public health implication of secondhand smoking, as well as secure the commitment of participants to support the ban and help implement it, especially at their individual places.
The Ministry of Health is to ban tobacco smoking at public places in November.
Mr Abraham Dwumah-Odoom, Deputy Minister of Health, announced this in Accra in a speech read on his behalf at stakeholder sensitisation seminar on the ban of smoking in public places on Tuesday. He said the initiative would help reduce the health risks that tobacco smoking exposed non-smokers to and its resultant impact on the economy.
For smoking on board an aircraft, a Chinese businessman has been fined GH¢90. In default, he will serve a two-month jail term. . . .
Prosecuting, Chief Inspector Ben Darfor told the Accra circuit court yesterday that Xiao, who was on board a Kenyan Airways flight from Monrovia to Kenya via the Kotoka International Airport (KIA), was arrested on July 2, 2008 while in transit at KIA.
Deputy Minister of Health, Dr. Gladys Ashitey has announced that her ministry is collaborating with other stakeholders to get the tobacco bill passed into law. This she said will give more meaning to the ratification of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and will constitute a legal framework for the enforcement of tobacco control activities in Ghana. The WHO FCTC which contains evidence-based policies for reducing tobacco use, describes the health impact of tobacco use and reflects a shared global commitment to action. Speaking on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day which fell on Saturday, Dr. Ashitey stated that the theme for this year, “Tobacco-Free Youth” is a global call for all countries to put systems in place to protect the fragile and dedicate youth from the glamorous and deceptive advertisements of the tobacco industry.
APART FROM being the most guinea worm endemic and most economically disadvantaged region in Ghana, the Northern Region is now rated as the region with the highest incidence of cigarette smoking and use of other tobacco products in Ghana.
According to Ghana Health Service Demographic Survey (2003), the Northern Region which is predominantly Muslim, is leading in cigarette smoking with 17.7% while the Upper West and Upper East Regions are also following in the second and third positions with 15.3% and 11.4% respectively.
Addressing a Press Briefing in Tamale to mark the '2007 World No Tobacco Day', the Northern Regional Health Promoter of the Ghana Health Services (GHS), Alhaji Abdul B. Yakubu expressed serious disappointment at the positions of the three Northern Regions on the Ghana Demographical and Health Survey.
Conclusion:
Ghana recognized the need to control tobacco use, long before the WHO FCTC idea, which culminated in the treaty and the country’s draft legislation on Tobacco Control. Tobacco Control has been one of the regular activities undertaken by the Health Education unit of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Information. It is hoped with the current impetus, all stakeholders will help make tobacco use outdated, so as to improve the health of the people in the country, despite the economic gains from the tobacco industry.
The Director-General of the Ghana Health Service Professor Agyemang Badu Akosa says he believes the long delay in passing the law to ban smoking in public places is the doing of some interested party.
“Somebody is sitting on it, working so seriously to prevent the Tobacco bill from being passed into law and I want them to prove me wrong.”
He said it was sad that though many Ghanaians were in support of the campaign to pass the law that would among other things ban smoking in public places, the process was being delayed.
Prof. Akosa said this at a day's seminar on a study conducted on the implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) for religious groups in Accra.
Present at the seminar were representatives from the Christian Council of Ghana, Catholic Secretariat, Federation of Muslim Councils, Ghana Muslim Mission, Charismatic Churches and Coalition of Muslim Organisations.
Mr. Kwaku Agyemang Manu, Deputy Minister of Interior, has expressed regret about the upsurge of wee smoking among the youth at Dormaa Ahenkro in the Brong Ahafo Region and called for immediate steps to arrest the situation.
He said any further delay in eliminating the practice would only lead many of the youths to psychiatric hospitals.
Mr. Manu made the call when he organized an end-of-year get-together for heads of department and members of the press at Dormaa-Ahenkro.
He identified a spot near the Methodist chapel building in the town, where he said the youths, both boys and girls, besieged daily to indulge in the practice.
Ghana's chief anti-smoking campaigner, the director-general of the country's health service, Professor Agyeman Badu Akosa, is stepping up a campaign to ban smoking in public places as a bill to ban smoking in public places continues to gather dust.
Akosa is threatening to march on the seat of government with a signed petition over the government's failure to act on smoking.
"Eighteen months is too long for the bill to be with cabinet," says an exasperated Akosa, who is also calling for a ban on tobacco advertising and the imposition of higher taxes on cigarettes.
A survey by the Ghana Health Service conducted in October and November 2006 revealed that 96 per cent of Ghanaians are in favour of legislation on tobacco control.
The British American Tobacco (BAT) has stopped production of cigarettes in Ghana as the country’s parliament looks set to ban smoking in public spaces.
BAT announced on Wednesday that it would now concentrate on distribution and marketing of its brands produced in countries like Benin, Nigeria and South Africa.
The decision would leave 180 employees without jobs. It was also likely to affect tobacco farmers in the country
Seventy-five per cent of fire outbreaks in the country are caused by smoking, 15 per cent out of ignorance and 10 per cent out of accidents.
The Upper East Deputy Regional Commander of Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), Mr Johnson Abu made these statistics known at a day's workshop organized by the Bongo District GNFS with sponsorship from World Vision Ghana, to sensitise people in the District on how to control the outbreaks of fire.
He cautioned people, who smoked while in bed, to desist from the practice emphasizing that it was one of the major causes of domestic fire outbreaks.