Tobacco Articles: country east_africa

Egypt Attempts to Curb Smoking in Public

Wed, 04 Jul 2007 04:00:00 GMT

But some doctors and lawmakers here want to change Egypt's smoking culture. The country's parliament recently passed laws banning tobacco advertising and smoking in some public places including government buildings, schools and hospitals. The law also calls for health warning labels to be put on cigarette packs and allows the government to increase the price of tobacco, according to parliament member Hamdi el-Sayyed, who proposed the new laws. The national cigarette brand, Cleopatra, sells for about 50 cents a pack. . . . Sherif Omar, parliament member and professor emeritus with Cairo University's National Cancer Institute, also has doubt over the new laws. He said education was the only way to get young people to put down the water pipe and cigarettes, but anti-smoking education is not part of school curriculum here. ''Law by themselves do not work well unless you have education in schools and in the media,'' he said.

Women smokers all around: Initially, the few women who smoked had to do it in hiding. Today, the picture is different: increasingly more young women are puffing in the open

editorial@eastandard.net (Mukami Githagui) — Sat, 20 May 2006 04:00:00 GMT

I had my first real flirtation with cigarettes when I was 18 years old. I recall, while growing up, how I observed older people around me lighting up. Keen and excited, I watched as they took deep puffs, invisibly but enviably passing the smoke down to their lungs. Intrigued, I would stare at the smokers with rapt attention as the smoke streamed out of their nostrils and mouths. And I thought to myself: Wow! Isn’t that cool? It was not until a couple of years later that I discovered how not-so-cool it all was. . . . "I don’t want to say society has become more tolerant because, in Mozambique, there are more women my mother’s age who smoke than women of my age," she reveals. In Mutola’s country, it was much more fashionable to smoke in the 70s than it is today. . . . Fardos Abdul echoes these sentiments. She says: "In the Koran, smoking is forbidden for any gender. Furthermore, I support those who want the habit of smoking in public to be banned." Smoking women, she observes, paint a bad image of society. Such harsh anti-smoking sentiments notwithstanding, some women tend to view cigarette smoking as a form of acceptable relaxation following a hard day’s work. Others tend to pick up the habit as a weight-loss measure . . . It has been publicly said that smoking can lead to infertility in women, especially those who choose to delay conceiving until they are in their 30s or 40s. None of this, however, appears to matter to young women smokers. As far as they are concerned, the clamouring by regulators and policy makers is nothing but a futile attempt to take away nicotine, their drug of choice.

BAT's EAC vision

Mon, 15 May 2006 04:00:00 GMT

British American Tobacco (BAT) last week launched an East African website for its integrated East African Community (EAC) business unit. This follows a restructuring move that has seen its three entities in Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda go through changes aimed at optimising the group’s business processes, to ensure long-term business sustainability. BAT Uganda’s managing director, Mr. Glenn Sheppard said the company is aiming at providing consistent information reaching millions of people worldwide instantly. “This communication platform has helped business organisations reach their stakeholders and also made information more accessible to everyone,” Sheppard said at a breakfast launch at the Sheraton Kampala Hotel. “This website will foster our identity as an East African Community (EAC) business,” he added.

BAT gets new website

Tue, 09 May 2006 04:00:00 GMT

BRITISH American Tobacco has launched a website for BAT East African Community, aimed at providing information on the company’s operations in the region. BAT recently aligned its business with the vision to create an integrated business unit with a common identity in the region. The EAC business unit now consists of Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda. Burundi and Tanzania are primarily markets.

BAT launches regional website

anarchos3@hotmail.com ( GRACE NATABAALO Kampala) — Wed, 10 May 2006 04:00:00 GMT

BRITISH American Tobacco has launched a regional website known as BAT East Africa Community website. The website, www.bateac.com, launched by the Executive Director of the Uganda Investment Authority, Ms Maggie Kigozi at the Sheraton Kampala Hotel yesterday is aimed at fostering BAT's identity as an East African business and provide information on BAT's operations in East Africa. BAT East African community is a business unit of the BAT global that previously included Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania but has now expanded to include Rwanda and Burundi and has re-emerged at a time when the governments of the East African states are seeking political integration under the East African Community. . . . Sheppard said the website is not intended to promote BAT products but to give people an insight into the operations of the company and the tobacco industry in general. "The key highlights of our website are corporate social responsibility, youth smoking prevention, information on tobacco and cigarettes, and illicit trade in East Africa," he said.

BAT loses 1.9 billion annually to smugglers

editorial@eastandard.net (Benson Kathuri) — Mon, 09 May 2005 04:00:00 GMT

BAT East Africa loses Sh1.9 billion to smugglers annually, a Ugandan-based think tank has disclosed. The Economic Policy Research Centre says that cigarettes top the list of the most smuggled goods across the borders of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and DRC Congo. "BAT in the East African region loses about Sh1.9 billion annually and assuming the production level was to remain the same and a diversion of 10 per cent takes place, the loss to revenue bodies is estimated to average Sh91.3 million," said Dr Marios Obwona, the center chief executive. . . . However leaders from the three East African countries have resolved to step up a joint effort to curb rising smuggling activities across common borders. Speaking after attending a regional workshop on illicit trade organised by the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (Kippra)/ Economic Policy Research Centre-Uganda (EPRC), the leaders said the trade undermined trade expansion. The more than 100 delegates who attended the event were drawn from regional revenue authorities, enforcement agencies, private sector and civil service.

REPORT ON THE HEALTH EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL TOBACCO SMOKE (ETS) IN THE WORKPLACE (PDF)

Thu, 30 Jan 2003 05:00:00 GMT

CONCLUSIONS ETS has many adverse health effects.

ETS constituents are individually known to have harmful physiological effects and ETS per se has also been shown to have harmful physiological effects.

ETS is carcinogenic and causes lung cancer and probably other cancers.

ETS causes heart disease.

ETS causes respiratory problems in adults and children.

ETS has adverse effects on reproduction, including low birth weight.

ETS exposure infringes the basic human right to good quality air.

Where workplace smoking is permitted, employee exposure to ETS is likely to be higher and more sustained than in the home environment.

Employees need to be protected from exposure to ETS at work.

Current ventilation technology is ineffective at removing the risk of ETS to health.

Legislative measures are therefore required to protect workers from the adverse health effects of ETS exposure.

Research is required into the levels and effects of ETS in the Irish workplace in order to:

Measure and monitor occupational exposures.
Assess resultant adverse health outcomes.

High risk groups require special consideration. High risk groups include:

Workers who are exposed to high levels of occupational ETS exposure such as those employed in the hospitality industry.
Pregnant workers.
Those with enhanced susceptibility to ETS due to genetic variations, including polymorphisms.

BAT Will Make Less Toxic But 'Not Totally Harmless'

Mon, 16 Sep 2002 04:00:00 GMT

We are in a controversial industry, but we are determined to demonstrate that a company in a controversial industry can still be responsible. Social Reporting is a commitment in that direction. . . How much does BAT plough back to the community under Corporate Social Responsibility vis a vis the profits it makes? We do not base our Corporate Social Responsibility on the profits we make. In Uganda, for example, BAT has undertaken to commit over $555,000 over the next five years in community projects in the areas where we operate. Local stakeholders determine which projects will benefit. . . We want to design Potentially Reduced Exposure Products (PREPS) such that harmful constituents can be removed. The total research budget is over $75 million annually and a significant proportion goes to PREPS. We also have a youth anti-tobacco smoking programme as well as a website where we advise on how (an addict) can cut down on smoking or quit. BAT acknowledges that there is no such thing as a safe cigarette.

BAT to Invest Sh500m in Export Unit

Fri, 23 Aug 2002 04:00:00 GMT

British American Tobacco Kenya will invest Sh500 million in its export unit in a move aimed at strengthening its foothold in the East and Central African region. The new managing director, Simon Welford, said the local firm will take-over all export business to the region previously shared with the Group's Europe-based factories. This, he said, reaffirms the firm's long-term commitment to Kenya. He said it was also a proof that Nairobi will remain BAT headquarters for the Eastern Africa Area. Welford attributed the firm's willingness to continue expanding its Kenya operations partly to the "Government's commitment" to ensuring that Kenya will offer an attractive investment climate and a level playing ground for all manufacturers. Welford made the remarks during a party hosted by the company.

BAT Unveils Changes in Its Top Level Management

Fri, 23 Aug 2002 04:00:00 GMT

Cigarette maker British American Tobacco has announced major changes in its boardroom. The appointments, which affect executive positions, will see the elevation of the former general manager, Mr Simon Welford, to the position of managing director. He takes over from Mr Chris Burell, who will remain a non-executive director of BAT Kenya and retain his position as area director for BAT Eastern Africa, the docket he was holding in addition to that of managing director for the Kenyan operation. Based in Nairobi, the tobacco firm's East African office consists of 11 countries: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Congo, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia and Somaliland. Others are Djibouti, Sudan, Rwanda and Burundi. The firm also announced the appointment of two new executive directors; Mr Luis Rapparinni (Finance) and Mr Keli Kiilu (Corporate and Regulatory Affairs).

BAT's Regulation Plea to EA Government

Mon, 10 Jun 2002 04:00:00 GMT

The British American Tobacco (BAT)-Kenya company yesterday called for sensible and practical regulations of the tobacco industry in East Africa. The company said although it appreciates the commitment it has received from the East African governments to promote dialogue with the private sector, sensible and practical regulation of the trade is equally important. BAT general manager Simon Welford said the company is determined to hold dialogue with the EA governments and the East African Legislative Assembly to realise the vision of the community.

Huge Loss As Tobacco Giants Drop Adverts

Mon, 24 Dec 2001 05:00:00 GMT

300 for Arusha exhibition

Mon, 07 Jun 1999 04:00:00 GMT

A grand exhibition by artisans from Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania has been organised by the East African Co-operation Secretariat to spice up the second signing of the East African Community (EAC) treaty in Arusha, July 30. The event, sponsored by the British American Tobacco (BAT) and the East African Secretariat, is expected to attract more than 300 exhibitors, 100 from each country. Addressing a sensitisation meeting of organisers who called on him at his office in Kampala yesterday, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Industry, Dr. S.P. Kagoda said the move is in line with government policy to promote the private sector.