Health Implications Of Cigarette Smoking, Where Is The Law?

As Ghana prepare toward the realization of her first tobacco law, it is best to particularly take a look at tobacco related issues, most especially in Ghana. Ghana is considered as one of the countries with high number of cigarette smokers.

In most communities in Ghana, a minute will not pass without one inhaling the smokes of a burning cigarette. Men and women including teenagers learn to smoke cigarette at the early stages of their lives.

Mamobi-Nima is a suburb of Accra. The twin communities are densely populated and can boast of all the different tribes that can be found across West Africa. It is located in the heart of the city of Accra.

In Nima, can be found a place called “Borla” a Hausa word meaning “rubbish or garbage”. Borla is a dumping ground for rubbish and other wastes. Borla as it is called by residents serves as hideouts for miscreants and criminals who use marijuana, cigarettes and cocaine amongst other dangerous substances.

In the suburbs of Mamobi-Nima, business activities of all kinds go on. Even if you mistakenly step on anothers foot, just move on and don’t bother to say sorry, for if you say sorry, it is like you’ve insulted the person as is believed there.

Back to smoking, as passive smokers one has no option than to cover his nose and mind his own business if confronting a smoker will spark confusion.

On the 31st of May 2011 on the “World No Tobacco Day” a civil society group in Ghana, Vision for Alternative Development (VALD) organized a sensitisation walk through the principal street of the Mamobi-Nima, its environs through other communities such as Accra Girls, Gortar, Alaska, Fifteen Bulbs, and Borla. The walk was aimed at sensitizing the general public on the negative effects associated with cigarette or tobacco smoking and other dangerous drugs.

It was amazing in the sense that just few meters away from our converging point is a kiosk or in the Ghanaian parlance the popularly called “metal container store” packed with cigarette and tobacco boxes readily available and being sold out to the public openly.

The cigarettes come in different brands and names such as the popular ones, Diplomat and King Size among others.

Surprisingly, all the brands had warnings inscribed on the boxes. Boldly written on the boxes were inscriptions that read, “Cigarette smoking can be harmful to your health”, “smoking causes cancer”, “smoking kills early”, “smoking destroys the heart” among others”.

Don’t they read it before buying? Or is it ignorance or illiteracy? Your guess is as good as mine”.

Surprisingly, one would still wonder if government is keen about ensuring quality health to its people, when it still allows the importation of cigarette to Ghana branded on the box specifically “for sale in Ghana” which mean it’s strictly made to be sold only in Ghana.

How much tax does the government derive from these imports that cannot even ensure proper or provide quality health care to Ghanaians.

Interestingly, the vendor of the cigarette store or shop who only gave her name as “Hajia” also took part in the walk. She however made a passionate appeal to all those smoking to quit as it is not good for their health.

She also said she is at the peak of abandoning the business because of its health implications to innocent people. She however stressed the need for government to ban the importation of cigarettes and create job opportunities for the teeming youth.

At the store, a young man’s life was save from an inch closer to further distruction when he bought and lighted a cigarette. He nearly burst into tears as he dropped down the cigarette and stepped on it. After he got to know the full implications and the negative consequences associated with cigarette and tobacco smoking. Could it be ignorance? hhhnnmm

Another young man however ignorantly rejected an advice. He said, “You people have come here to spoil our business”. I asked him to grant us just a minute of his time. He replied “let me enjoy my thing” (cigarette) as he left the scene.

I think the time has come for a more pragmatic action to be taken against manufactures of tobacco or cigarette and they must be condemned by all. They are fully aware of the dangers associated with tobacco.

But they keep producing them and as wise are they are, they tend to mislead innocent people by putting cautions on the boxes. Then what is the essence of this if we all know with no doubt that tobacco is harmful to our health.

Cigarette use or smoking causes lung and oral cancer, neck cancer, heart attack, blindness, premature death, heart disease, stroke, infertility, poverty, pollution and even environmental degradation.

Meanwhile, Ghana has waited too long in passing laws to regulate cigarette, as a member state of The United Nation (UN) which adopted the first international public healthy treaty which is a Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in 2003.

Ghana singed the convention in 2003 and ratified it in November 2004. However when most of her peer countries had already passed laws controlling tobacco in their various nations, Ghana continues to delay in passing the Tobacco Control Bill in to Law though it has been presented to Government.

It is estimated that in Ghana 9% of the children are exposes to tobacco smoking and if measures are not taken to reverse the situation, we may fall into trouble as a country.

It is for this reason, and more that we are pressing and calling the ever listening Government of the Republic of Ghana to make it a point to pass the Tobacco Control Bill into law now. If other parts of the proposed Public Health Bill are not ready. This will intern help curb and reduce the high stake at which the population are infected.

The government of Niger has already passed theirs into law protecting human lives, what is Ghana waiting for?

According to the World Health Organization, Cigarette smoking is currently the second largest cause of death in the world.

It’s amazing to learn that tobacco use and exposure has caused over 5 million deaths worldwide which is even more than the entire population of the Republic of Liberia, whilst it is also estimated that it is likely to cause 10 million (half the population of Ghana) deaths worldwide by 2025 if pragmatic measures are not taken to control.

It is therefore incumbent on the government to also create job opportunities, skills training and other vocational trainings for the youth to enter, so that if the Tobacco Control Bill is passed into law, it will work and be maintained. If the teeming youth can find something better to do it will help instead of roaming about and ending up as deviants.

It is here that I personally want to make a passionate call to the United Nations Secretary General, Mr. Ban Ki Moon, to take another look at the adopted first International Public Healthy Treaty (IPHT) thus the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in 2003.

Upon which member states including Ghana had signed and ratified. This needs to be critically looked at for a total ban on the manufacture and use of tobacco worldwide. There must be a comprehensive law on tobacco across the member states of the UN. It should be in full force if the UN is really committed to protecting health of member states.

Cigarette must not be accepted by the UN in any way when the UN is champion its course for human right across the globe since cigarette it destroys and kills the Human Body.

Therefore living a healthy live devoid of cigarettes must be considered as a basic Human Right of every person by the UN.

By:Murtala Mohammed Bako

Email: murtalabako1995@yahoo.com