Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA) has alleged that tobacco firms are luring youths and first-time users with trendier versions of tobacco products.
NTCA said despite measures to discourage consumption of tobacco products by citizens, Nigeria had continued to lose an estimated 28,000 lives annually to tobacco-related ailments.
Speaking on the current state of the graphic health warnings policy implementation in Nigeria, at the weekend, Chairman of NTCA, Mr. Akinbode Oluwafemi, said tobacco producers and marketing firms were foot-dragging and employing different tactics to weaken the impact of laws meant to regulate tobacco use.
Oluwafemi, who quoted a report by the Centre for the Studies of Economies of Africa (CSEA), said tobacco was responsible for the death of over 28,000 people annually in Nigeria. He said if the current trend continued, the number could rise significantly in the coming years
He said, “There are growing concerns in Nigeria about the increasing use of tobacco products, especially the use of ‘Shisha’ and other new tobacco products among our young population, despite the serious health implications.”
Oluwafemi said the introduction of graphic health warnings had proven to be effective in reducing tobacco and its associated harms.
He said Section 20 of the National Tobacco Control Act (2015) required manufacturers, importers and distributors of tobacco products to ensure that their products carried fully coloured graphic health warnings covering at least 50 per cent of the displayed part of their packs.
In addition, Oluwafemi said the law required the tobacco product to have inscriptions bearing implications of tobacco use and exposure.
A member of the alliance, Mr. Chibuike Nwokorie, alerted the security agencies and other regulatory agencies to the new antics of tobacco industry operators, which were now shifting their trade to other forms of tobacco products in order to circumvent the law.
NTCA urged all the regulatory agencies, including the Standards Organisations of Nigeria (SON), Nigeria Police, Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, and Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, to rise up and ensure effective implementation of the graphic health warnings on tobacco products.
Onyebuchi Ezigbo
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