Tobacco control key to development - by Loide Jason
WINDHOEK – Money spent on tobacco is often money that can be better spent on vital needs such as shelter, education and food.
Desta Tiruneh, the officer-in-charge of the World Health Organisation (WHO), said this at the commemoration of World No Tobacco Day 2011 on Tuesday.
“The economic impact of disability, lost productivity and early deaths due to tobacco contributes to the burden of poverty, retarding national development and further widening health inequities,” Tiruneh said.
He said tobacco control is not only a public health priority but also a key to development.
Tiruneh said many African countries are faced with capacity challenges in translating the convention into national law and successfully enforcing it at country level.
He urged civil society and non-governmental organisations to help educate the public, particularly the youth on the danger of tobacco to themselves, their families and the unborn babies and sensitize men on the health hazards of second-hand smoke to people nearby, especially women and children.
This year’s theme is “Protect yourself and others from tobacco smoking and exposure to tobacco smoke”.
Addressing the same occasion, Dr Richard Kamwi, the Minister of Health and Social Services, said Government is working together with the WHO and the Cancer Association of Namibia to ensure that Government is protected from the costly, harmful and negative effects of smoking.
The Government of Namibia is party to the WHO framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
The minister said Namibia had put in place the programme of tobacco control already in 1990, while the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control was introduced in the late nineties.
Desta Tiruneh, the officer-in-charge of the World Health Organisation (WHO), said this at the commemoration of World No Tobacco Day 2011 on Tuesday.
“The economic impact of disability, lost productivity and early deaths due to tobacco contributes to the burden of poverty, retarding national development and further widening health inequities,” Tiruneh said.
He said tobacco control is not only a public health priority but also a key to development.
Tiruneh said many African countries are faced with capacity challenges in translating the convention into national law and successfully enforcing it at country level.
He urged civil society and non-governmental organisations to help educate the public, particularly the youth on the danger of tobacco to themselves, their families and the unborn babies and sensitize men on the health hazards of second-hand smoke to people nearby, especially women and children.
This year’s theme is “Protect yourself and others from tobacco smoking and exposure to tobacco smoke”.
Addressing the same occasion, Dr Richard Kamwi, the Minister of Health and Social Services, said Government is working together with the WHO and the Cancer Association of Namibia to ensure that Government is protected from the costly, harmful and negative effects of smoking.
The Government of Namibia is party to the WHO framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
The minister said Namibia had put in place the programme of tobacco control already in 1990, while the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control was introduced in the late nineties.
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