Gov’t urged to implement tobacco restriction laws

-As tobacco kills at least 6 million people every year

By Nche Jude Mbah in Yaounde

Ayong Caleb, C3T, Communications Officer of Coalition for tobacco control

The Cameroonian Coalition for tobacco has tasked the government of Cameroon especially the National assembly to take urgent actions and enact laws that will prevent the tobacco industry from targeting children and protect them from the devastating health and other consequences of tobacco use.

                They made the clarion call recently in Yaounde during a media chat aimed at sensitizing newsmen on the dangers of smoking.

                Because of the very high rate of tobacco consumption nowadays, the Cameroonian Coalition for tobacco has argued with clear evidence that the tobacco industry deliberately and systematically targets children in order to encourage smoking and the use of other tobacco products amongst them.

                It says this is carried out using multiple strategies including marketing, advertising and promotion, very often around schools, leading to experimentation with and addiction to tobacco among children. These children are thus more likely to become addicted, long time tobacco users. They also suffer from tobacco-related diseases later in life which leads to premature death.

                They further revealed that base on a tobacco survey (GYTS) carried out among youths age 13-15 years in Cameroon, 31.2% of smokers were initiated to smoking before the age of 10. The report states that 5.7% currently smoke cigarettes, and 9.5 currently use other tobacco products.

                The tobacco industry accountability (TIA) survey carried out by the Cameroonian Coalition for Tobacco Control Alliance (ATCA) aimed at better understanding the practices of the tobacco industry to market, promote and sell tobacco products around schools in Yaounde, Cameroon.

                The public relation’s officer, Mr. Caleb, using a power point during the media chat reminded all that the government of Cameroon had signed some engagements at the international levels which necessitated member states to implement laws that will go a long way to secure the good health of Cameroonians. He said a similar law was ratified in Cameroon in the 2006 but it hadn’t been respected to the latter, so to him, it was a moment for the media to conceive and disseminate to the public.

                In a bid to ensure the enactment of the law, Mr. Caleb said they had gone a long way to form a network of parliamentarians to back the draft law at the national assembly.

                The organization has therefore discouraged the advertising of tobaccos near schools. To discourage this, the organization has recommended the ban of all forms of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship around schools, a ban of displaying tobacco products (at point of sale) next to non-tobacco products, the ban of manufacture, importation and sale of flavoured tobacco products; ban the sale of cigarette in single sticks and small packs of 20 and many more.