Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Pass ‘Tobacco Control Bill’

Pass ‘Tobacco Control Bill’
Daily Graphic
1 June, 2009
Story by: Musah Yahaya Jafaru

THE Executive Director of the Vision for Alternative Development, Mr. Issah Ali, has appealed to the government to pass the Tobacco Bill into law. That, he said, was the only way the government could protect Ghanaians against contracting diseases related to tobacco smoking.

Mr. Ali, who made the call at a press conference in Accra last Thursday, said it had been established by the Narcotics Control Board that cigarette use was the gateway to the use of hard drugs such as Indian hemp and cocaine. “Ghana is struggling to address diseases and health issues such as malaria, tuberculosis [TB] and HIV/AIDS and our health facilities are overstretched and as such cannot cope with diseases and cancers caused by tobacco use.” Mr. Ali asked the Minister of Health to “ensure that the Tobacco Control Bill is presented to Parliament as a matter of urgency”.

He said civil society group with the support of their allies would support the government in the implementation and enforcement of the Bill when passed into law. The Bill calls for labeling of tobacco products, he noted, and said his outfit had advocated a plain package for all tobacco products. He said picture warnings would keep a high population in the country aware of the dangers of tobacco use. When passed into law, he said, the Act would prohibit the sale of tobacco products to persons under 18 years and persons under the same age would not sell tobacco products.

Besides, he said, the Act would prohibit the sale of tobacco products in health and educational institutions, theaters, sports stadia and other places dominated by the youth.

Mr. Ali urged the government to increase tobacco tax in line with Article six of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control [FCTC].

2 comments:

munni said...

I dont understand why governments go around such bills when they know it is dangerous for their very own people
http://firsthandsmoke.com

munni said...

Governments need so much money that is why they always say yes to things like smoking and want to legalize things like using pain killers as drugs
http://rxeuropa.com/fr/treatments/tramadol/