GOVERNMENT MAKES PROGRESS IN DOMESTICATING THE WHO FRAMEWORK

 

Minister of Health Sylvia Masebo has disclosed that government has made progress in domesticating the WHO framework convention on tobacco control (WHO-FCTC).

In a speech ready on her behalf by Minister of Youth,Sports and Arts Elvis Nkandu, at  the media launch of the WORLD NO TOBACCO DAY UNDER THE THEME “protecting children from tobacco industry interference,” Ms Masebo said government is pursuing comprehensive tobacco control legislation to avert the growing trends in tobacco use particularly among the young people.

Ms Masebo noted that the main objective of the law is to protect both the present and future generations from the devastating health, social, environmental and economic consequences of tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco smoke.

She said the ministry of Health is working round the clock to ensure the provision of quality, cost-effective healthcare services as close to the people as possible.

She added that their special target is those who have succumbed to tobacco use and need help to quit this highly detrimental habit.

Speaking earlier WHO Country Representative Dr. Nathan Kakyaita highlighted the need to target young people in spearheading the tobacco control bill saying that young people constitute the majority of the country's population.

Dr Kakyaita said Policymakers and all other key stakeholders must get on board in exposing the tobacco industry, as it is a fight, they either win or they lose.

He said world No Tobacco Day 2024 provides a counter marketing campaign to debunk tobacco industry myths and manipulation tactics and empower children and adolescents to engage in the fight against big Tobacco.

According to the UNDP in Zambia, about 16 percent of individuals 15 and older currently use some form of tobacco, meaning 1.6 million Zambians are at a substantially increased risk of morbidity and early mortality from cancer, cardiovascular disease, respiratory illnesses, and many other tobacco-attributable diseases. In 2016, tobacco was responsible for the deaths of over 7,100 Zambians or roughly 6 percent of all deaths, costing Zambia nearly 140 lives every week. Each year, tobacco costs the Zambian economy ZMW 2.8 billion, equivalent to 1.2 percent of its GDP.

The global tobacco industry is using “manipulative” tactics to “aggressively” target and hook youth on smoking across the globe, warns the World Health Organization, which is calling for a ban on the sale of tobacco and nicotine-related products to minors.

Globally, an estimated 37 million children aged 13 to 15 years use tobacco, the WHO said in a report released Thursday, which laid out how the tobacco and nicotine industry lures young people, who become addicted for life.

The report, which was released ahead of World No Tobacco Day on May 31, also showed that children are using e-cigarettes at rates higher than adults in many countries.

This is a “disturbing trend,” Ruediger Krech, the WHO’s director of health promotion, said at a news conference Thursday.

“Every year, millions of young people fall victim to the tobacco industry’s manipulative tactics,” he said, adding that most lifetime users of tobacco or nicotine start before the age of 21.