Tobacco.org

• 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.

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Pastor Chris Okays Alchohol And Smoking  

The Founder and senior pastor of Christ Embassy, Pasto Chris Oyakhilome, on Sunday told all who cared to listen that since the Bible does not expressly condemn both cigarette and alcohol, then there is nothing wrong with them.

It all started when a viewer of his television programme wrote to enquire from the popular pastor if it was wrong for a 'Christian to work in a cigarette company'.

Below is the response from Pastor Chris:

There is nothing wrong with cigarette; the Bible doesn't say anything was wrong with it..I know a lot of people do complain about it because of the relationship attached to it with some sicknesses like cancer....but if they really believe it is wrong, why not ban it totally?

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Upper West CEPS burn seized cigarettes  

Customs destroy smuggled foreign cigarettes in Wa 

Coalition On Tobacco Control Petition Health Minister 

A petition on the implementation of pictorial health warning on tobacco packs and the establishment of Tobacco Control Fund in Ghana was, yesterday, presented to the Deputy Minister for Health, Mr Rojo Metle-Nunoo. The petition was presented by the Coalition on Tobacco Control Bill which is a network of Civil Society Organisations advocating for the implementation and enforcement of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), and the passage of the Tobacco Control Measures of the Public Health Bill into law.

The Coalition, comprising the Coalition of NGOs in Tobacco Control (CNTC), Media Alliance on Tobacco Control (MATCO), Community Health Support Team (CHEST) and the Ghana Coalition of NGOs in Health, has the objective of protecting present and future generations from the devastating health, social, economic and environmental consequences of tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke. Mr Metle-Nunoo disclosed that the Mental Health bill had been passed into Law while the Tobacco Bill had been incorporated into the Public Health Bill which was currently at the consideration stage of being passed into Law.

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• Coalition on Tobacco Control Bill insists on pictorial warnings on tobacco packs 

The Coalition on Tobacco Control Bill (CTCB) on Thursday presented a petition to the Ministry of Health, calling for urgent redirection of the Food and Drugs Board (FDB) to implement pictorial health warnings on tobacco packs without further delay.

It also urged the Ministry to seek Parliamentary approval for the establishment of the Tobacco Control Fund within the Public Health Bill, to implement the Tobacco Control Measures.

Mr Labram Massawudu Musah, Programme Director, CTCB who presented the petition to Mr Rojo Mettle-Nunoo, Deputy Minister of Health in Accra, said implementation of the pictorial health warnings on tobacco packs were cost effective ways of reducing tobacco use, exposure to tobacco smoke, reaching smokers and non-smokers with low level of education and literacy to help reduce disparities in health knowledge.

He stated that as a result of high level of illiteracy, Ghana did not necessarily require text only warnings especially when research by UNICEF had indicated that approximately one out of every three people in Ghana was illiterate.

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Efya's Cigarette Smoking Saga: Akosua Agyapong Adviced To First Talk To Her Sister 

Musician cum dancer Akosua Agyapong has come under public flak for hopping from one radio station to another insisting that she will stop afro-eclectic singer Efya from smoking.

Efya recently confirmed her cigarette smoking status to the Ghanaian media and Akosua Agyapong shortly after, also went public that she would stop Efya from smoking because the latter was her 'small girl'. Interestingly, when the issue was raised on Peace FM's Entertainment Review last Saturday and Akosua was put on the spot, it came to light that she and Efya were not that close and had actually met only twice. Akosua after going public on Efya's smoking issue, said she was yet to speak to Efya over the matter and did not even have her contact number, let alone book an appointment with her.

Persons who called in criticized Akosua for the way she went about the sensitive issue, insisting she should have handled it on the quiet if indeed she meant well for Efya. Social network sites including facebook and twitter have since then become a platform for discussing the issue as some called on Akosua to first talk to her sister, Stephanie Benson, to dress more 'decently' and act as a role model before advising Efya to quit smoking.

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• Akosua Agyepong vows to let Efya quit smoking 

Legendary songstress and dancer Akosua Agyepong has taken a swipe at musician Efya's smoking habits vowing to let her quit smoking to save her image and that of her career.

Akosua Agyepong was speaking on XFM after Efya disclosed in an interview with Hitz Entertainment News that contrary to speculations, she does not do drugs but only smokes cigarette.

In that interview Efya said, "I don't know why people say I do drugs, nobody out there who has said that I do drugs has ever seen me do it. I can swear now and tell you that because I don't do drugs. I smoke cigarettes, I do that you see me doing it when I'm out it's my thing but nobody can judge me on that but the thing is I don't do drugs."

But Akosua, who was not impressed with Efya's comments, vowed that, "If Efya says she doesn't take in drugs but she smokes, then she has a bone to pick with her because she is my small girl and I really have to stop her because for 22 years, nobody can tell me that Akosua I have even seen you drink, let alone smoke."

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Coalition to protest against FDB for refusing to implement pictorial health warnings on tobacco packs 

The Coalition of Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in Ghana on Tuesday hinted of a demonstration against the Food and Drugs Board (FDB) for its refusal to implement pictorial health warnings on tobacco packs to alert users on the implications associated with smoking.

“If a timeline for the implementation of the pictorial health warnings in Ghana is not announced by the end of the year, civil society would embark on a protest walk to the headquarters of the Food and Drugs Board, Office of the Minister of Health and Office of the Speaker of Parliament in January 2012.”

Mr Issah Ali, Executive Director of Vision for Alternative Development (VALD), a Tobacco Control NGO said in Accra that though support of the FDB was crucial to make pictorial images and information on tobacco packets, the FDB had refused to attend the series of meetings that it had organised.

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"Ghana must speed up legislation on Tobacco" - Patricia Lambert  

Ms Patricia Lambert, Director of International Legal Consortium for Campaign for Tobacco - Free Kids, has urged the Government of Ghana to consider the health of her people and speed up the tobacco control legislation.

"Government has the sovereign right and duty to protect the life of all citizens" she stated.

Ms Lambert was speaking at an international media capacity building workshop in Johannesburg on Saturday, to sharpen the media's efforts to respond to the growing threats of tobacco use in Africa.

The workshop is expected to equip the media to generate awareness of the increasing health burden in the various countries in Africa due to the damaging effects of tobacco products consumption.

The workshop was organized by Health-e, a media organization in South Africa, in collaboration with Campaign for Tobacco - Free Kids, a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO).

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WHY A STRONG TOBACCO CONTROL MEASURES OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH BILL, 2011: Tobacco Kills, hasten the passage to protect lives  

Ghana has failed to meet its obligations on article 8, 13 and 5.2 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). February 27, 2010 was the deadline for Ghana to have implemented a comprehensive ban on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship (Article 13) and ban smoking in public places (Article 8). Ghana is expected to have in place comprehensive tobacco control legislation five years after ratifying the FCTC (Article 5.2).

"I remember waking up once at midnight and shaking uncontrollably, picking all the remnants that was in the ashtray and trying to smoke them," she said. "That's when I realized I was a slave to tobacco. I couldn't believe what my sixteen years of smoking had reduced me to...." Lucy Achieng a 46-year-old mother of three testified after successfully quitting smoking. According to her, smoking is enslaving.

Five million smokers will die this year if current smoking patterns continue, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). . . .

Vision for Alternative Development and the Coalition on the Tobacco Control Bill humbly call on Parliament to enact a strong and formidable law (Tobacco Control Measures of the Public Health Bill, 2011) that will withstand the test of time.

Ghana needs to ensure that the public is protected, "IF IT MUST BE DONE, THEN IT MUST BE DONE WELL".

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Cigarette Concealed in Banku 

A 22-year-old ex-convict, Nashiru Amadu, who tried smuggling some prohibited substances into a police cell for a suspected criminal, has been nabbed.

The suspect, who claimed to be a welder, is alleged to have concealed a number of tusker king size cigarette sticks in a big ball of banku for one Razak Haruna, a robbery suspect in detention.

On reaching the charge office, personnel on duty took the items but upon serious scrutiny, they detected that some items had been stuffed in the food.

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Is President Mills Fit To Lead? | Feature Article 2011-09-09 

It is common knowledge that President Mills was a known chain smoker as well as an excessive use of alcohol in his days as a lecturer at the Faculty of Law of the University of Ghana, Legon.

It is recalled that in October 2006, a newspaper carried a story that Prof Mills was afflicted by a throat cancer, possibly Naso laryngeal which affects the nose like a sinus infection. That paper was forced by the Office of Prof Mills to retract and apologise because Prof Mills’ director of communications and now director of communications at the Presidency, Koku Anyidoho, stated that it was pure lies and a fabrication.

Ladies and gentlemen, what cases throat cancer? Smoking is the most important risk factor for throat cancer. Heavy consumption of alcohol, particularly alcoholic spirits, it is a major cause of that. Is it the excesses of the President’s years of abuse of alcohol and chain smoking of cigarette and marijuana that have caught up with him? This overwhelming evidence cannot be missed by Ghanaians as to which of our leaders have actually abused his body.

When combined, these two factors of long years of alcoholism and smoking have a synergistic effect.

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AGBENYIKEY: A letter to owners of restaurants, bars and nightclubs ... that allow smoking; economic impact of smoking bans. 

Hello Hardworking men & women,

It was a pleasure meeting over a hundred of you in the year 2007 when I was conducting my research on your workers’ exposure to pollution caused by secondhand tobacco smoke and your perception on smoking in public places. I also will forever be indebted to you for providing me momentary utopia anytime I visit your establishment on leisure. I must admit life without your establishment and employees would be less worthy.

As the calendar gradually moves towards the debate on the tobacco bill in parliament, the tobacco industry and their advocates as expected have started their usual clandestine activities trying to illegitimately convince you that studies have also been published purporting to prove that smoking bans in public places are bad for business. The fact of the matter is we can list numerous studies that prove that smoking bans have no effects on economic gains or losses. . . .

Firstly, most of the publishers of studies that find smoking ban hurt business are sponsored by the tobacco companies whose main interest is to maximize profit . . .

Lastly, I would take this opportunity to remind you about the clear linkage between smoking and secondhand tobacco smoke and the rising incidence of cancers, heart attacks and stroke among our population. The good news is, in other countries smoking bans have been able to reduce smoking related disease incidence significantly. We should also not forget that smoking imposes considerable direct and indirect cost on increase in healthcare cost, absenteeism, and higher employee turnover rate.

I would leave you with two quotes from former employees of the tobacco industry. “When CTR (Council for Tobacco Research) researchers found that cigarettes were bad and it was better not to smoke, we didn’t publicize that”

- Dorothea Cohen, former employee for Council for Tobacco Research (CTR) employee in the Wall Street Journal, 02/11/1993.

“Younger adult smokers are the only source of replacement smokers...If younger adults turn away from smoking, the industry must decline”.

- R.J. Reynolds, 02/29/1984.

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AGBENYIKEY: Economic impact of smoking bans 

Hello Hardworking men & women,

It was a pleasure meeting over a hundred of you in the year 2007 when I was conducting my research on your workers' exposure to pollution caused by secondhand tobacco smoke and your perception on smoking in public places. I also will forever be indebted to you for providing me momentary utopia anytime I visit your establishment on leisure. I must admit life without your establishment and employees would be less worthy.

As the calendar gradually moves towards the debate on the tobacco bill in Parliament, the tobacco industry and their advocates as expected have started their usual clandestine activities trying to illegitimately convince you that studies have also been published purporting to prove that smoking bans in public places are bad for business. The fact of the matter is we can list numerous studies that prove that smoking bans have no effects on economic gains or losses. We can also find numerous studies that prove that smoking is good for business and studies that prove otherwise. . . .

most of the publishers of studies that find smoking ban hurting business are sponsored by the tobacco companies whose main interest is to maximize profit through tobacco sales whiles most of the studies that prove otherwise are sponsored by non-profit public health promotion organizations whose main interest is to prevent diseases and promote health. . . .

Fourthly, most of the members of your association support a proposed ban of smoke in public places, I am therefore appealing to you to make a public statement on your position on this matter. After all it is only patriotic to join in national debates.

Lastly, I would take this opportunity to remind you about the clear linkage between smoking and secondhand tobacco smoke and the rising incidence of cancers, heart attacks and stroke among our population.

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