CTPD URGES GOVERNMENT TO ENACT INTO LAW THE TOBACCO CONTROL BILL

 

Centre for Trade Policy and Development- CTPD has urged the government to enact the Tobacco control legislation Bill and implement access to information law to enhance transparency in governance.

CTPD Programmes Coordinator Natalie Kaunda says such legislation will not only improve public health but also contribute to budgetary stability.

Mrs Kaunda has called upon government to prioritize the enactment of the tobacco control bill.

Some Civil societies such as CTPD, Centre for Primary Care Research and others have in the past been calling for the enactment of the tobacco control Bill which is an obligation to protect the public from the devastating health, social, economic and environmental consequences of tobacco consumption and exposure to its smoke.

According to WHO, in the absence of a tobacco control legislation Zambia will continue loosing around 8,000 lives annually due to tobacco consumption.

Though the ministry of health, past government and various stakeholders have been discussing the enactment into law of the tobacco control Bill

 Parliament has opened for the new session and there is no sign of taking the Tobacco control Bill to parliament, when it is still sitting in the ministry of Justice. Tobacco campaigners and various atkeholders are to when the new the tobacco control Bill will be taken to parliament.

The World Health Organization predicts that the number of smokers in Zambia will increase by an additional 300,000 people by 2025. The number of tobacco-related deaths in Zambia increased from an estimated 3,000 per year (43 per 100,000) in 1990 to 7,142 per year (45 per 100,000) in 2020).

Tobacco products continue to be too affordable in Zambia, making them easily accessible and encouraging uptake among youth. Through sustained tobacco excise tax increases, though, the government could reap both fiscal and public health benefits. This would effectively decrease smoking prevalence in Zambia while raising additional tax revenue, especially when paired with the other evidence-based tobacco control measures in the comprehensive Tobacco Control Bill.