Botswana: Parliament moves to pass Tobacco Control Bill despite Industry Pressure

A landlocked country in Southern Africa characterised by a landscape defined by the Kalahari Desert and the Okavango Delta, Botswana, with a population of approximately 2.3 million people, is at the verge of adopting a tobacco control law compliant with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

A new tobacco control legislation

Published on 12 March 2021, the Tobacco Control Bill, aims to repeal and re-enact the Control of Smoking Act (Cap. 65:04) to align it with the FCTC to which Botswana is a party. Key elements contained in the current bill include amongst others:

• the establishment of a Tobacco Control Committee which shall provide oversight in the implementation of the provisions and exercise the powers conferred upon it;
• the prohibition of smoking in all indoor workplaces, all indoor and outdoor public places and on all public transport where smoking would create a hazard;
• the prohibition of advertising, promotion and sponsorship by the tobacco industry;
• adequate measures for packaging and labelling of tobacco products to inform customers of the numerous risks of tobacco use;
• introduction of licenses to sell tobacco products.

The Bill has been passed by Parliament and is currently being processed for presidential assent to become law. As it would be expected, the Bill has been the target of several attempts by entities that are undoubtedly tobacco industry allies, to prevent it from being passed. Members of Parliament rejected the bill, while entities like Business Botswana, the biggest private business advocacy body in the country called on the Minister of Health to withdraw the bill from parliament. British American Tobacco Botswana, argued that “livelihoods will be impacted by cigarette sales in minimum packs of 20’s”. Some media organs requested that the government of Botswana consider suspending the process of making this law until it fully consults with the tobacco industry. These and many other efforts to sway public perception on tobacco control policy,  no doubt necessitate urgent action and support to the tobacco control community in Botswana.

The good news, though, is that tobacco control actors have remained steadfast and the bill is making good progress towards adoption. Recently, stakeholders, including government representatives, the WHO and civil society joined forces to endorse the bill which is expected to become law any time soon.

Tobacco control actors in Botswana deserve recognition for their resilience against tobacco industry efforts to weaken the bill and even prevent it from being adopted. Due to the irreconcilable conflict of interest that exist between them, the FCTC recommends that the tobacco industry be excluded from all discussions related to the formulation of tobacco control policies. Being a party to the FCTC, Botswana has an obligation to abide by this requirement.

The world is watching Botswana at this moment. The country must put the health of the people above the interest of the tobacco industry and adopt the tobacco control bill.

Source: ATCA