Vision for Alternative Development (VALD-Ghana) – a civil society organization championing tobacco control and related issues in Ghana has held a day’s training workshop aimed at building the capacity of members of the Private Newspaper and Online News Publishers Association of Ghana (PRINPAG) on Tobacco control and Tobacco Taxation in Ghana.
The workshop which was aimed at bringing the media up to speed with new developments in Tobacco control in the country was also to solicite the media’s support for the campaign against the use and abuse of tobacco and its related products.
Executive Director of Programmes for VALD, Labram Musah, in his remarks noted that since Tobacco is the leading preventable cause of death in the world and also the leading preventable cause of non-communicable diseases in Ghana, it is a huge threat to the country’s health system and economy, especially the youth who are supposed to be the future of the country.
He mentioned that a recent report has stated that 9 out of 10 smokers started smoking in their teens and have now become chainsmokers. Setting the premise that an estimated 5.6 million youth of today under the age of 18 will eventually die prematurely from tobacco related diseases.
“In Ghana, it is estimated that tobacco kills 6,700 Ghanaians annually because of tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke and of course, accounting for 3% of all deaths in Ghana… Additionally, other studies are concerned about the rapid emerging tobacco products which will eventually worsen the increased burden of non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, stroke, diabetes, lung diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, etc.…”, he emphasized.
Labram therefore courted the partnership of the media in the fight against the threat of tobacco hence the capacity building workshop for members of the PRINPAG on Tobacco Control and Tobacco Taxation.
He explained that the Tobacco Taxation has proven to be an effective way of controlling tobacco use and therefore calls on the stakeholders involved to ensure that Tobacco taxation is effectively implemented in the advancement of public health.
Executive Secretary of PRINPAG, Kenteman Nii Laryea Sowah expressed concern about the lack of consistency on campaigns on projects such as Tobacco control in order to gain the traction that is required for the needed change in the status quo.
This, he indicated, goes to defeat the purpose for the otherwise, very laudable campaigns. While appealling to the government to support the campaign on the effective implementation of the Tobacco Taxation by VALD, Kenteman pledged the support of PRINPAG to the course.
Deputy Minister for Information, Fatimatu Abubakar, who delivered the keynote address on behalf of the Minister emphasized the need for strong regulatory measures to tackle the menace of health issues caused by tobacco use.
She expressed concerns about the increasing use of Shisha in Ghana and the extremely low cost of cigarettes in the country. She therefore supports the call for increased tax measures on tobacco and tobacco related products in the country in order to reduce its consumption by the population.
She appealed to the media to give their full support to the campaign to discourage tobacco use and to protect the youth of Ghana from using tobacco and other harmful drugs which would jeopardize their future development.
Source: Clement Akoloh || ghanaiannews.ca