An end may soon be in sight for tobacco-related deaths in Nigeria. While celebrating the fifth anniversary of the coming into force of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, FCTC, recently, the Environmental Rights Action, ERA, decried the lacklustre approach of the National Assembly to the speedy passage into law of the National Tobacco Control Bill saying that further delay may cause more tobacco-related deaths in the nation.
Akinbode Oluwafemi, programme manager, ERA, says; “The fifth year of FCTC entering into force calls for sober reflection for us as a nation because in the last five years little progress has been made in domesticating the FCTC. This has not been without a grave impact on the citizenry because within this period we have lost talented musicians, journalists and even doctors, no thanks to nearly no regulation of an industry that markets a lethal product in beautiful wraps.” He added that Nigerians are unhappy with the slow response of government to public health protection , especially with the way the tobacco control bill has been neglected after the public hearing held in July 2009. According to him, there is an alleged clandestine move by tobacco lobbyists to compromise lawmakers with the intent of thwarting the passage of the National Tobacco Control Bill.
“How else can you explain our lawmakers’ foot-dragging on the bill nearly one year after the public hearing? This action is anti-people and seriously compromises our democracy. Our lawmakers should stand by the people who have spoken in unison at the public hearing and abide by the principles of the FCTC which has reduced tobacco-related deaths in countries that have implemented the provisions,” he said.
Margeret Chan, director-general, World Health Organisation, WHO, disclosed that recent studies estimated that full implementation of just four cost-effective measures set out in the FCTC could prevent 5.5 million deaths within a decade. Similar sentiments were echoed by tobacco control groups across the world. The Framework Convention Alliance, a network of tobacco control groups from across the globe said that countries that have implemented the FCTC provisions like ban on tobacco advertising and sponsorships have gone a long way in reducing deaths.
Tobacco use remains high in low and middle-income countries and is increasing among women and young people. There have been five years of good progress on policy but deaths due to tobacco use continue to rise. Chan says “Governments need to fund their policy promises to stem the tide of tobacco deaths.”
The FCTC which has been signed and ratified by over 168 countries including Nigeria came into force in 2005 and is the first treaty negotiated under the auspices of the WHO to draw global action against tobacco-related deaths. Parties are expected to domesticate the treaty by implementing national tobacco control coordinating mechanisms, prohibiting the sales of tobacco products to minors, and take measures to protect public health policies from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry. The FCTC which has been signed and ratified by over 168 countries including Nigeria came into force in 2005 and is the first treaty negotiated under the auspices of WHO to draw global action against tobacco-related against tobacco-related deaths.
The WHO says tobacco-related deaths stand at 5.4 million people annually and projects this will increase beyond eight million over the next two decades, with the majority of lives lost in developing countries. It, therefore, insists that strong worldwide enforcement and implementation of the FCTC could save 200 million lives by the year 2050. Nigeria which signed the FCTC in 2004 and ratified in 2005 has been recording more deaths relating to tobacco, especially cancer.
Oluwafemi: Decries the delayed passage of tobacco control bill
Chan: Tasks governments to fund policy promises |
