48 African CSOs seek strong tobacco control regulations

By : Innocent Anoruo

Date: 24 May 2019 5:02am WAT

A picture taken on September 29, 2017 shows a close up shot of a man lighting a cigarette in Kuwait City. On October 1, 2017, the United Arab Emirates will double the price of tobacco and increase soft drink prices by 50 percent, ahead of a more general tax on goods and services on January 1 next year. It is but one of the six Gulf Cooperation Council states -- along with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar -- to introduce the five-percent VAT next year as they seek to redress their economies. / AFP PHOTO / Yasser Al-Zayyat

Forty-eight groups, on the platform of Africa Tobacco Control Civil Society Organisations, have written to the Senate asking it to adopt strong tobacco control regulations to protect Nigerians from the consequences of tobacco use.

In a statement yesterday, the groups described the adoption of the regulations as critical for effective implementation of the National Tobacco Control (NTC) Act 2015.

The Act provides Nigeria the unique opportunity to align with the requirements of the World Health Organisation-Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC), demonstrating the country’s global leadership in tobacco control.

Recalling that Nigeria ratified the WHO-FCTC in 2005 to control the growing epidemic of tobacco use, the CSOs noted with dismay that the NTC Act 2015 was still awaiting the adoption of the regulations governing its implementation.

While urging the senators “to resist the manoeuvres of the tobacco industry to dissuade them from adopting the regulations and place the health and welfare of Nigerians above interests of the tobacco industry,” they pleaded for the approval of the draft regulations before the expiration of their session on June 6.

The groups that signed the letter include Africa Tobacco Control Alliance (ATCA) and Vision for Alternative Development (VALD), among others.