Ban On Smoking Has Not Yielded Results

The government's ban on smoking in public places since 1989 has not yielded any results. This is because the pronouncement was not backed by any law.

The Minister of Health, Dr Kwaku Afriyie, made this observation yesterday in a speech read on his behalf at the launch of this year’s No Tobacco Day in Accra.

The theme for the day was “Tobacco Free Film, Tobacco-Free Fashion, Action Now!” and was aimed at persuading the film and fashion industries not to use their media to promote cigarette smoking.

The Health Minister expressed concern about indiscriminate smoking at public places and the dangers it poses to non-smokers.

He said it has been established that non-smokers who inhale the smoke from tobacco products suffer many of the diseases of active smokers.

Dr Afriyie said scientific evidence has proved that rates of lung cancer, heart disease and other illnesses suffered by smokers are higher in passive smokers than in those not exposed to tobacco smoke.

He said the exposure of people to second-hand smoking on a daily basis is really serious.

Dr Afriyie expressed the hope that the 2002 draft bill prohibiting public smoking and all forms of advertising on tobacco, which is yet to be presented to Parliament, will help address the situation.

He was, however, happy that all West Coast flights of Ghana Airways prohibit smoking and that it is also banned in state transport buses and at health posts.

The Director of Public Health, Dr George Amofah, called for a vigorous national campaign on the devastating effects of smoking to erase misconceptions about it.

He said because of the economic benefits governments derive from cigarette manufacturers, it will be difficult to ban cigarette production, and added that the best a government can do for its people is to present the bare facts about smoking for people to make informed choices.

Dr Amofah said though communicable diseases like malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis are dangerous, the havoc that diseases related to smoking cause cannot be compared to them.

He said it is unfortunate that the health implications of tobacco are sometimes played down, due largely to the economic benefits, and warned that the long-term effects are more disastrous that the economic gains.

Speaking on the relevance of the theme, the Chief Psychiatrist of the Ghana Health Service, Dr J. B. Asare, said smoking is a leading health risk in the world and that each year, five million people die from tobacco-related diseases.

He said the film and fashion industries are portraying smoking as fashionable and fun and this is having a negative impact on the youth.

Dr Asare appealed to the industries to resist being used as channels to promote smoking, which causes diseases and deaths.

In a message read on his behalf by the Country Representative, Dr Melville George, the World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Director for Africa, Dr Ebrahim M. Samba, said developing countries, especially those in Africa, are prime targets for tobacco companies.

Dr Samba said access to markets in Africa is made easier by globalisation and the absence of very strong tobacco control legislation.