Tobacco.org

MMPRC confirms appointment of Ruder Finn for international PR  

• Smokers react to dramatic rise in price of cigarettes 

Statistics reveal an alarming proportion of the Maldivian population – especially youth – have succumbed by one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced: the tobacco epidemic.

The Center for Community Health and Disease Control (CCHDC) estimates that the 44 percent of the total population use tobacco, mainly by smoking.

According to the Maldives Demography and Health Survey (MDHS) 2009, 42 percent of people in the age group 20-24 are smokers while 20 percent of 15-19 years age group smoke.

Similar findings in a 2007 Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) showed that nice percent of the surveyed students are either smokers or have smoked in the past – while 48.7 percent students are exposed to second-hand smoke at home and 69.4 percent of students are exposed to it elsewhere.

A worrying trend has been observed with rising numbers of girls becoming smokers.

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• President ratifies Tobacco Control Bill 

President Mohamed Nasheed Wednesday ratified Tobacco Control Bill passed by the parliament on August 2.

The bill submitted by the government on July 22, 2009 prohibited public smoking. However, the parliamentary committee that studied the bill amended the article allowing smoking in public places such as parks and halls.

The Act states measures to control tobacco use including prohibition of growing and advertising tobacco and tobacco products, how such products could be imported and exported, how they can be wholesaled and retailed. It also states standards for packaging and labelling tobacco products and principles for taxing such products.

According to the Act, smoking is not allowed in a workplace or part of a workplace specified by a regulation.

The Act specifies smoking be prohibited in health centres, mosques, child welfare centres, educational institutes, government authorities, sports institutes, and playgrounds.

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• Crows take a cigarette break  

Holidaymakers Tony and Judie Ellis watched as the crow alighted on the roof of a water villa next to theirs and calmly began extracting the cigarettes from the packet. . . .

Judie, of Crowborough, East Sussex, said: 'The crow which flew past with the cigarettes seemed to be dishing them out to the others.

'It was taking the cigarettes out of the packet and putting them on the roof of the water villa. Then the other crows were picking them up. It was amazing that they seemed to have them in their beaks the right way round.'

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• Bill on controlling tobacco sent to social affairs committee 

The People’s Majlis has yesterday voted to proceed with the Bill on controlling tobacco and has been sent to Social Affairs Committee of the Majlis.

Interestingly the debate on this Bill was not divided on party lines; rather there was much appreciation from MDP members to the former government’s strong campaign against smoking and tobacco control.

This was the second reading of the Bill and almost all members who spoke at the debate stage supported the legislation but some members expressed concern that this Bill was too harsh

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• Bill on tobacco control submitted to committee 

A tobacco control bill seeking to ban smoking in public places and apply other restrictions was accepted by the People’s Majlis and submitted to committee for further review on Monday.

The bill, proposed by the Government, was discussed by the Majlis members and passed with the approval of the 55 MPs who participated in the vote. There were 61 MPs in attendance when the vote took place and it was decided to send the bill to the social affairs committee.

Nearly all the MPs who spoke at the Majlis sitting agreed that the use of tobacco needed to be controlled and urged for the Bill to be passed swiftly and enforced.

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• Majlis proceeds with tobacco control bill  

A tobacco control bill proposed by the government to ban smoking in public places and set restrictions on its use was sent to committee for further review today.

All 55 MPs who participated voted in favour of sending the bill to the social affairs committee.

Presenting the bill at a previous sitting, Health Minister Aminath Jameel said the dangers and health risks of tobacco were well established and the habit led to extreme suffering.

"When I looked at the statistics of our country, I see cancer, one of the most painful of diseases. In 2004, 40 people passed away. In 2008, the number of people who died from different types of cancer increased to 79," she said.

The number of people who died of heart diseases increased from 192 people in 2004 to 403 in 2008, she added.

The bill states its purpose is to keep children away from tobacco use, provide information to smokers to make responsible decisions and stop advertisement and promotion of cigarettes.

The second clause of the bill states that everyone has the right to protection from passive smoking.

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Cigarette Duty To Double Under Government Proposal 

The Finance Minister, Gasim Ibrahim has proposed double duty on cigarettes, tobacco and tobacco products citing health reasons.

Speaking in Parliament on the government’s proposed amendments to the Import Export Bill, Gasim said that even though the proposed amount on cigarettes, tobacco and tobacco products was high, the ill effects of smoking were higher.

If the amendments pass, the duty per cigarette will increase from 30 laari to 60 laari. This means that the price of a cigarette pack will increase from the current Rf. 20 to about Rf. 26 in the market.

We asked people in Malé’s streets what they think.

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Printing Health Risk Message on Cigarette Packs Delayed 

Ministry of Health has decided to extend deadline of printing health risk labels on tobacco packs in Dhivehi Language until October.

The prior date for printing the labels was July 1. Some parties have already printed such labels on cigarette packs.

The Health Ministry said on Wednesday that this decision was taken upon request from some importers of tobacco who said that they had faced some difficulties in getting labels printed on time.

?Therefore, we are giving them more time,? Deputy Director of Health Services Dr. Sheena Moosa said.

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Ministry of Health today began the work of drafting a law of smoking 

Ministry of Health today began the work of drafting a law to rid the Maldivian society from the negative effects of smoking. The law is drafted in collaboration with the Attorney General's Office and the Maldives Law Commission. A special meeting was held at the youth centre today, to collect information to draft the bill. . . .

The law is being formulated in accordance with the recent WHO Framework convention on tobacco control, which requires countries that have ratified the convention to formulate laws to discourage or control tobacco.

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A public awareness message on the harmful effects of tobacco is to be printed in Dhivehi on all tobacco products packed in the Maldives. 

A public awareness message on the harmful effects of tobacco is to be printed in Dhivehi on all tobacco products packed in Maldives. The Ministry of Health says that the rule will come into effect from the 1st of July 2005.

This is part of an effort to make aware the public on the harmful effects of tobacco and in reducing such products, in concordance with the ratification of the WHO “Framework Convention on Tobacco Control” by Maldives on 30th May this year.

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WHO awards anti-tobacco award to three islands and ADK Hospital 

World Health Organization has awarded three islands and ADK Hospital for their campaign against smoking as part of activities to mark No Tobacco Day.

Raa atoll Fainu island won the award for achieving the status of a no-smoking island while Thakandhoo and Kelaa in Haa Alifu atoll and Vaadhoo island in Gaafu Dhaalu atoll won recognition for all women folk stopping smoking.

The awards were handed over to the island communities and the private ADK Hospital by Atolls Development Minister Abdulla Hameed at the official ceremony held in this island on Monday to mark the international No Tobacco Day.

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Cabinet recommends ratification of WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control 

The Cabinet on Thursday recommended to President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom the signature and ratification of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

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EDITORIAL: Tobacco related harm in South Asia 

To deal with tobacco we must defy a tenet that an influential section of modern society holds dear--that unfettered commerce will deliver us all from want and suffering. South Asia suffers harm from tobacco on a scale that demands a vigorous response. And it provides examples of how to deal creatively with the problem...

Some South Asian countries have responded innovatively to control the harm caused by tobacco. The small kingdom of Bhutan is a pioneer. It has a tobacco control law dating from 1729, and is now moving unobtrusively to eradicate smoking and the trade in tobacco altogether. In the Maldives there are islands that have declared themselves completely tobacco free.2 The state of Arunachal Pradesh in India has banned the sale, distribution, and manufacture of tobacco products.10 There are no reports yet of a serious backlash to banning tobacco. Removing tobacco can be a community led enterprise, not a jackboot affair.

An altogether different approach, employed in Bangladesh and India, is the use of public interest litigation. Judicial activism for the common weal is perhaps stronger in India than in any other country. The Indian courts have moved with resolve to protect the public from tobacco. The Supreme Court of India in November 2001, in a landmark ruling, directed all states and centrally ruled territories to issue orders forthwith to ban smoking in public places and in public transport.2 A state court has taken similar action.

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11 S-E Asian nations to fight tobacco jointly 

The 11 countries of the South-East Asian region with a 1.5 billion population have agreed to come together in fighting tobacco which is viewed as a major health threat, bigger than even some communicable diseases.

The countries " six of the Saarc and five of the Asean groups " reached a consensus at the end of the two-day meeting of their health ministers here on Tuesday to launch a concerted attack on tobacco.

Three of them " Bangladesh, Thailand and Korea " have already signed the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). Others have agreed with the proposal and decided to frame laws to control tobacco.

India approved of it even before FCTC passed legislations to curb tobacco consumption, health minister Sushma Swaraj said, while briefing reporters on the deliberations of the meeting.

The 11 countries, which have a 40 per cent share of the worlds major diseases, have decided to ban ads glorifying cigarette smoking.

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