Dear President Hakainde Hichilema
And Dear Members of Parliament,
Sir, as your office is loaded with a multitude of activities and responsibilities, I have sculptured this letter with summarized key points below and a video reading of our main request to you and your office.
Foremostly, I must mention that there has been several letters delivered to your office at State House and to Cabinet Ministers seeking attention and audience on the issue of the Tobacco Control Bill from different ally policy-advocating organizations.
Mr. President, it has been 15 years since Zambia signed the World Health Organization Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC). The benefits of enacting the Tobacco Control Bill which emanates from the WHO-FCTC have been highly pronounced and embraced by key leaders and global experts in health, economics, environment, governance, faith, education, health-insurance, politics, agriculture, nutrition and more.
Fake and deceptive claims by profiting perpetrators have been clearly debunked on issues of economic strength, employment creation, managed health risks, and several more claims. Tobacco is deadly in all its forms. It does not offer sustainable jobs especially in the green economy as espoused by your presidency and government.
Tobacco kills 7,000 to 8,000 lives every year while accounting for over K2.8 billion Kwacha annual loses. It is a notorious substance which requires legislative control especially to help protect consumers, mainly children and youths.
Please, consider further the next points on established facts about Tobacco.
Master Chimbala
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