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Ghanaians spend 10.3 per cent of their annual income on alcohol and tobacco, a survey has revealed.
A mere 4.5 per cent of annual earnings is spent on food and other beverages.
Prof. Kofi Awusabo Asare of the Department of Population and Health at the University of Cape Coast, gave the statistics when he delivered a public lecture organised by the Spiritan University College at Ejisu in the Ashanti Region. . . .
Some parts of the country are reeling under what can best be described as debilitating poverty.
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The Government is to ban the use and sale of tobacco which is said to be the cause of the loss of 4.9 million lives each year.
The Executive Director of Vision for Alternative Development (VALD), Issah Ali has reiterated that the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) is the way for the total ban of selling and buying of tobacco products.
He asked the government to strengthen laws on illicit trade, resource the customs preventive service (CEPS) to tackle smuggling, involve security agencies in tobacco control and also cancel any partnership with the tobacco industry.
He made this call at a training workshop held in Accra recently.
He said the theme: “Protecting the future generations from the devastating health, social, environmental and economic consequences of tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco smoke”, is to address issues concerning tobacco.
The Principal State Attorney of the Attorney Generals Department, Mrs. Pearl A. Siriboe, also stressed the need for the government to pass the ‘Draft Tobacco Control Bill’ and also ban smoking of tobacco openly in public.
The Executive Director of Vision for Alternative Development (VALD), Issah Ali, has said that if government is committed to fighting hard drugs in the country then it must vigorously tackle the tobacco threat since it is the "gateway" to the use of hard drugs.
Issah Ali of the NGO believes the more people use tobacco, the more they are likely to graduate into the use of Marijuana and hard drugs like cocaine and heroin.
Speaking at a Public Forum put together by VALD, Issah Ali therefore appealed to government to ensure the passage into law of the Tobacco Control Bill, which has been pending for some time now. "We are humbly urging the Minister of Health Designate to ensure government presents the Tobacco Control Bill to Parliament by the end of this month - November 2009."
In reaction to a question on what stage the bill has reached, Ben Botwe of the ministry who represented the minister at the forum said the final draft is almost done and that it will soon be laid before parliament. . . .
An insider source told this writer that the issues are more "complicated" than they seem on the surface. The lobbying power of tobacco companies, the source said, cannot be underestimated and that individuals within the corridors of power have their bread buttered from the industry. Governments? around the world are also reluctant to stop cashing in on tobacco trade; a cost benefit analysis is the last thing they would consider when they are looking for immediate cash to spend.
Indeed, according to Issah Ali, the tobacco industry has no right to interfere with Public Health issues of countries and that British America Tobacco (BAT) must "stop deceiving governments with secret letters and weak arguments, to interfere with public health policies, knowing that what they are doing contravenes international laws." The reference here is article 5(3) of the FCTC.
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)
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.