Jump to full article: Ghana News Agency (gh), 2009-11-11
Intro: arly 90 per cent of people in Africa remain without meaningful protection from second-hand smoke, according to a global report launched in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday.
The report, "Global Voices: Rebutting the Tobacco Industry, Winning Smoke-Free Air," also reveals that by 2010, smoking will claim the lives of six million people worldwide, 72 per cent of whom reside in low-income countries.
Though the report points to signs of hope, it states that many African countries are fighting against the tobacco industry's aggressive efforts to stop public health interventions by putting smoke-free laws into place.
The report, published by the Global Smoke-free Partnership, was launched at a media summit on Fighting the Cancer and Tobacco Pandemic in Africa hosted by the American Cancer Society (ACS) in advance of the AORTIC Cancer in Africa Conference beginning on November 12 in Dar es Salaam.
It notes that if the current trends continue, tobacco will kill seven million people annually by 2020 and more than eight million annually by 2030. . . .
Dr. Glynn said implementation remained a challenge in many places, including Ghana, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Uganda.
He mentioned other obstacles as identifying resources for implementation and opposition to smoke-free laws by the tobacco industry.
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