http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/country/botswana.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://www.mmegi.bw/2007/November/Thursday22/22.php http://tobacco.org/news/255685.html Police in Bobonong have smashed what appears an organised tobacco smuggling racket after retrieving two 50kg bags of tobacco from the home of a 72-year-old woman. Seven more black plastic bags also containing tobacco were recovered from the same home. The tobacco is believed to have been smuggled into Botswana from Zimbabwe through ungazetted entry points. Bobonong Police Station Commander Patrick Mbikiwa said the old woman was a friend of two Zimbabweans who left the bags in her home while they transported five bags to Gaborone. Mmegi gmakaya@gmail.com (ONALENNA MODIKWA STAFF WRITER) Zimbabwe Botswana Thu, 22 Nov 2007 05:00:00 GMT http://www.mmegi.bw/2006/October/Monday23/1257307441371.html http://tobacco.org/news/234418.html "Tobacco is used as money in prison." Inmates use tobacco to buy things from others. They even use it to buy sex from other men. "They call it maotwana or smokolo (homosexuality)," he explains Mmegi dikgang@mmegi.bw (MOGOMOTSI MOLOI Correspondent) Botswana Mon, 23 Oct 2006 04:00:00 GMT http://allafrica.com/stories/200610170989.html http://tobacco.org/news/234091.html In 1992, it became an offence to smoke in public places in Botswana. Individuals breaking that law are theoretically subject to a P1000 fine, but no one I know - including a few police officers - has ever heard of anyone having to cough-up any cash for smoking in public. The P10,000 fine that restaurant and bar owners are subject to, however, has encouraged them to enforce the non-smoking regulations at their establishments. If the government really wanted to help the nation kick the smoking habit, however, they wouldn't try to hit the odd offender with a fine but rather slap a healthy tax on every pack of cigarettes. In the United Kingdom 20 cancer-sticks will set you back the equivalent of P70. . . . The problem may well be that until our average life expectancy grows to above 50-years-of-age, government and health officials won't view cancer and heart disease as priority items. All-Africa.com Botswana Tue, 17 Oct 2006 04:00:00 GMT http://www.mmegi.bw/2006/September/Wednesday6/9247173241744.html http://tobacco.org/news/231510.html Oral cancer - also known as a lifestyle Cancer because of its association with smoking and drinking - is the second commonest cancer amongst men. Head of Oncology at Princess Marina Hospital, Dr Alexander von Paleske, described the disease as a nasty cancer that appears as a small lesion on the lip, tongue and throat. Paleske also noted that sometimes one gets a hoarse voice that will not go away. This cancer affects more than 80 percent of males and does not play a role in women, although this may change due to HIV, Paleske said. He added that often when given antibiotics the condition gets better, but warns patients that they need to do something about it. Known as head and neck tumours, he said when detected early, treatment includes surgery and therapy. Mmegi dikgang@mmegi.bw (THATO CHWAANE Staff Writer) Botswana Wed, 06 Sep 2006 04:00:00 GMT http://www.mmegi.bw/2006/June/Tuesday20/36819591463.html http://tobacco.org/news/226458.html The Stop Smoking Support Group (SSSG) held its first workshop last week to empower and train people on peer counselling. The group that is technically under the guidance of Environmental Health Unit (EHU) aims to help those who want to quit smoking and maintain the abstinence for the rest of their lives. EHU technical officer, Ephraim Rapalai said the group comprises 11 executive committee members, mostly young people and former smokers. As peer counsellors, members of the group come from different professional backgrounds. Mmegi advertising@mmegi.bw (THATO CHWAANE Staff Writer) Botswana Tue, 20 Jun 2006 04:00:00 GMT http://www.gov.bw/cgi-bin/news.cgi?d=20060601&i=Tobacco_products_must_be_restricted http://tobacco.org/news/225716.html Tobacco companies have been blamed for deceptive business practices that they employ to market their products. Addressing the nation in radio broadcast to mark the commemoration of the World No Tobacco Day yesterday, the Minister of Health, Shiela Tlou, said the day was set aside by countries to draw global attention to the tobacco epidemic, preventable diseases and deaths that it causes. Tlou said this years theme Tobacco: Deadly in Any Form or Disguise aims to sensitise customers and policy makers to the fact that the use of all tobacco products is extremely harmful and that all tobacco products, not just manufactured cigarettes, should be strictly regulated. Botswana Press Agency dwnp@gov.bw Botswana Thu, 01 Jun 2006 04:00:00 GMT http://www.mmegi.bw/2006/June/Monday5/4133656801666.html http://tobacco.org/news/225595.html FRANCISTOWN: The hazards posed by tobacco on people's health came to the fore on Wednesday last week during celebrations to mark the World No Tobacco Day. The commemorations, broadly crafted to curb tobacco consumption, came in the face of increased tobacco sales and consumption in the country. Jean Kalilani, the World Health Organisation (WHO) representative in Botswana said statistics reveal that there has been an increase in the number of women who smoke. She warned that smoking poses a serious threat to the growth of society as it has a direct link to cancer, which kills many people. However, opinion is divided in Francistown on what should be done about smoking. Mmegi advertising@mmegi.bw (Isaac Pinielo Correspondent) Botswana Mon, 05 Jun 2006 04:00:00 GMT http://politics.guardian.co.uk/columnist/story/0,,1735619,00.html?gusrc=rss http://tobacco.org/news/219862.html I think I have discovered the clinching argument for closing the House of Lords. It is the presence in that chamber of a peer called Lady Tonge of Kew. Last week the baroness (formerly the Liberal Democrat MP Jenny Tonge) opened a debate about Botswana with an attack on the Gana and Gwi bushmen of the Kalahari. She suggested they were trying to "stay in the stone age", described their technology as "primitive" and accused them of "holding the government of Botswana to ransom" by resisting eviction from their ancestral lands. How did she know? In 2002 she had spent half a day as part of a parliamentary delegation visiting one of the resettlement camps into which the bushmen have been forced. Her guides were officials in the Botswanan government. Lord Pearson of Rannoch, a man with whom I seldom find myself in sympathy, alleged that something was missing from her account: the trip, he claimed, including first-class air travel, was funded by Debswana. Debswana, a joint venture between De Beers and the government of Botswana, owns the rights to mine diamonds in the bushmen's land in the Kalahari. . . . He might have added that Debswana was being assisted by Hill and Knowlton, the public-relations company famous for the unsavoury nature of its clients. It advised the Chinese government in the wake of the Tiananmen massacre, set up lobby groups for the tobacco companies and coached the girl who told the false story about Kuwaiti babies being thrown out of incubators that helped to launch the first Gulf war. The Guardian Botswana Tue, 21 Mar 2006 05:00:00 GMT http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/051012/new035.html?.v=20 http://tobacco.org/news/207838.html As African Ministers of Health gather at a meeting organized by the African Union, members of the Network for Accountability of Tobacco Transnationals (NATT) are urging health officials from countries throughout Africa to swiftly advance ratification of the global tobacco treaty. In recent weeks, corporate accountability and health advocates have organized events in countries across Africa to build support for ratification of the treaty, formally known as the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC). Events in Uganda, Zambia, Nigeria, Togo and beyond have made headlines. "This treaty will save millions of lives and change the way giant tobacco corporations operate around the world," says Megan Rising of Corporate Accountability International. "It demonstrates that working together, the nations of the world and their NGO allies can protect people from irresponsible and dangerous actions of corporations like British American Tobacco (BAT) and Philip Morris/Altria." Governments must ratify by November 8th for their delegates to have a vote at the treaty's first enforcement meeting early next year. The tobacco industry -- which has been aggressively targeting Africa to expand markets for its deadly products -- has been attempting to derail African countries' ratification by spreading misinformation about the treaty. For example, tobacco corporations have tried to convince some officials that they cannot ratify until after they have passed domestic legislation to implement the treaty. PR Newswire Africa Botswana Wed, 12 Oct 2005 04:00:00 GMT http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/10/AR2005101001049.html http://tobacco.org/news/207700.html All but a few of the Bushmen living in Botswana's Central Kalahari Game Reserve have been forcibly removed from their homes in recent days in what spokesmen for the affected communities said is a final push by the government to end human habitation there after tens of thousands of years. The First People of the Kalahari, an activist group in Botswana, said Bushmen villages have been cut off from their main sources of food and water, and outsiders have been prohibited from entering to provide relief for the past six weeks. . . . The First People of the Kalahari loaded five trucks full of corn meal, water and tobacco on Sept. 24 in an attempt to defy the quarantine. The confrontation grew violent, and police fired rubber bullets to disperse the crowd, injuring one [This graph only] The Washington Post Botswana Tue, 11 Oct 2005 04:00:00 GMT http://www.gov.bw/cgi-bin/news.cgi?d=20050120&i=Ministry_ammends_smoking_act http://tobacco.org/news/187417.html Ministry of Health has amended the Control of Smoking Act of 1992, so that it now totally bans smoking in public places, offices and public service vehicles. The newly amended law now carries heavier penalties for violations and stricter enforcement mechanisms. Chief health officer in the ministry , Setshwano Mokgweetsinyana, told Jwaneng full council meeting that the amendment of the Act was also intended to get rid of indiscriminate smoking in public places and protect non-smokers, unborn and breast feeding babies. Botswana Press Agency dailynews@gov.bw Botswana Thu, 20 Jan 2005 05:00:00 GMT http://allafrica.com/stories/200408180341.html http://tobacco.org/news/173431.html PRESIDENT Mwanawasa today held talks with his counterparts from Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Botswana and Malawi on tobacco production and trade among the six countries. The six presidents held the tobacco talks during a working breakfast at the Royal Palm Hotel. Briefing the Zambian media immediately after the talks, Foreign Affairs minister, Kalombo Mwansa said the discussions were 'very fruitful'. Dr Mwansa said the six heads of State discussed a number of issues in relation to tobacco production and trade among their countries. All-Africa.com Zimbabwe Malawi Mozambique Tanzania Zambia Botswana Wed, 18 Aug 2004 04:00:00 GMT http://www.gov.bw/cgi-bin/news.cgi?d=20040812&i=Proposal_to_amend_1992_Smoking_Act_goes_through_second_reading http://tobacco.org/news/172771.html A proposal to amend the 1992 Smoking Act went through second reading in Parliament Tuesday. The bill seeks to introduce a total ban on smoking in public places, offices and public service vehicles and that penalties for violations and enforcement mechanisms are established. Presenting the bill, Health minister Lesego Motsumi said the 1992 Act was not executed as expected due to lack of clarity on procedures of enforcement. She said the resulting rampant public complaints with regard to indiscriminate smoking in public places resulted in undue exposure of the non-smokers to the harmful effects of passive smoking. Botswana Press Agency clai@gov.bw Botswana Thu, 12 Aug 2004 04:00:00 GMT http://www.mmegi.bw/2004/August/Wednesday11/1628127151807.html http://tobacco.org/news/172638.html THE Minister of Health Lesego Motsumi told Parliament yesterday that the Control of Smoking Act of 1992 must be amended because of the difficulties encountered in its enforcement and the burden it places on non-smokers. "The act (Smoking Act of 1992) was enacted in 1992 and a decade later difficulties have been found in its enforcement and the act, as it is, places a burden on non-smokers to request non-smoking areas," Motsumi said. . . . It is an attempt by the ministry to revamp the current law in a bid to make work places and entertainment areas risk free to non-smokers and introduce new and strict penalties for violating the smoking ban and related infringements. . . . If the bill is passed into law, it is expected that owners of lodges and other places of relaxation must cater for non-smokers. Under the new law, the owner of a lodge, for example, must make sure that there are separate places for smokers and non-smokers. Mmegi advertising@mmegi.bw (KABO MOKGOABONE) Botswana Wed, 11 Aug 2004 04:00:00 GMT http://www.sabcnews.com/africa/southern_africa/0,2172,85384,00.html http://tobacco.org/news/172406.html In a move that amounts an almost total ban, Botswana is seeking to tighten legislation to stop smoking in all private or public places, public transport and workplaces - and to restrict smoking where there are children, pregnant or lactating mothers. Even in homes, families would have to protect children from the effects of smoking. Many public places already prohibit smoking except in designated areas. The age at which persons may purchase tobacco products or sell them would be raised to 18 years, with penalties for retailers who do not comply including fines of up to 5 000 pula or three months in jail, or both. According to a bill in the Government Gazette dated July 6 and distributed Friday, the only seeming exclusion is a place of lodging, where the owner may designate smoking rooms provided they are physically detached from the 'non-smoking' areas. South African Broadcasting Corp. Botswana Mon, 09 Aug 2004 04:00:00 GMT