VALD launches 2021 Ghana Tobacco Industry Interference Report

Vision for Alternative Development (VALD) – a non-governmental organization with special focus on advocating against Tobacco use in Ghana, has officially launched the Ghana 2021 Tobacco Industry Interference Index report at a ceremony in Accra on Wednesday October 6, 2021.

This is the second edition of the report put together by VALD with support and partnership from the Global Centre for Good Governance in Tobacco Control (GGTC) and the Africa Tobacco Control Alliance (ATCA). The first report was launched in October last year.

The index presents findings of the tobacco industry attempts and interference in government efforts to develop tobacco control policies, strengthen measures to control tobacco use and overall implementation of the WHO FCTC and its protocols.

The Ghana report is expected to form part of the Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index aimed at documenting how public health policies are protected from the industry’s subversive efforts, and how the government has pushed back against this influence.

The report ranked Ghana with 56 points from the previous 58, indicating a 2 point improvement from its previous rank in 2020.

The Executive Director of VALD in charge of Programs, Labram Musah, revealed that annually Tobacco use is responsible for the death of more than eight million smokers worldwide. He urged the government to increase taxes on tobacco products so as to have an effect on the price of cigarettes in the country.

He emphasized the need for Ghana to regulate access to tobacco products and check its affordability so as to protect the interest of future generations.

Below are the recommendations contained in the report:

We recommend the following:

1. The government through the establishment of an Inter-agency Coordinating Committee or under the chairmanship of the Minister of Health must prioritize surveillance and monitoring of the activities of the tobacco industry in the country to inform evidence-based policymaking. In light of the evidence gathered in this report, it appears there is a clear low commitment and understanding of the TC laws which to a large extent benefits the tobacco industry. For instance, the continuous sale of tobacco in single sticks despite a ban on such, the influx of illicit tobacco products in the market, the ‘Duty-Free’ tobacco products at the country’s ports, among others, all amounts to huge benefits and incentives to the tobacco industry while the country loses huge sums of revenue.
2. We recommend that the Government work with CSOs and other stakeholders to develop a code of conduct to guide the conducts of all public officials, to restrict/ban government agencies and officials from receiving any form of support from the tobacco industry and make known their engagements and interactions with the Tobacco Industry. It is expected that the development and implementation of the code of conduct will avert some of the unnecessary interactions between government officials and the tobacco industry, as in the GRA case where the contract was suspended.
3. We recommend that the government bans all tobacco-related CSR activities and direct the tobacco industry to publicly report or declare its CSR initiatives in the country as this is not currently available in the public domain. Additionally, we recommend full disclosure on their website of all activities including their market shares, revenue, and profits, tax exceptions, or any privileges the tobacco industry receives.
4. The government must mandate the Ministry of Finance to regularly review the price of tobacco products and propose appropriate measures to effectively regulate the affordability and access to tobacco products. We strongly propose the adoption of a Specific Tax regime to replace the current Ad-valorem tax regime for tobacco products – the current price at which tobacco is sold is unjustifiably too low even when sold in packs. Cigarette prices in Ghana are as low as GHS 2 per pack of 10 sticks.
5. Upgrade capacity and equip officials to enable them embark on special operations to clamp down on promotional activities veiled under the creative arts industry, using musical lyrics, movies, musical videos, stage craft, and others on mass platforms like social media and television to advance industry publicity, we strongly recommend anti-tobacco messages when scenes of tobacco and alcohol are shown.
6. The role of the media is very important to augment the activities of the few CSOs, like the Vision for Alternative Development (VALD), to project and spotlight the activities of the tobacco industry, their interference and overall adverse harm to the population needs to be heightened.
7. We recommend the government to develop an awareness campaign for government officials, decision/policy makers, and political actors on WHO FCTC especially on Article 5.3 to equip them with the requisite skills and knowledge so as to avoid conflict of interest and also falling prey to activities of the tobacco industry or inadvertently facilitating their activities to undermine tobacco control policies in the country.
8. Government must immediately facilitate the process of domesticating the “Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products” once it becomes a party to the Protocol.
9. We also call for a total cancellation of the recently suspended track and trace system awarded to De La Rue by the Ghana Revenue Authority and open up a fresh application process that is independent and transparent devoid of tobacco industry involvement for a track and trace system for all tobacco products to effectively address illicit trade in tobacco products

The World Health Organization (WHO), has stipulated that about 80% of the 1.1 billion smokers worldwide live in low-and-middle-income countries, where the burden of tobacco-related illness and death is the highest and the poor bear the brunt of the problem as the expenditure of their limited household income is diverted from basic needs to tobacco due to the addictive nature of the product.

Source: ghananewsonline.com.gh