Dear Editor,
Today, May 31, is being celebrated as World No Tobacco Day under the theme: Ban Tobacco Advertising, Promotion and Sponsorship.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of death globally, being responsible for killing one in 10 adults worldwide, including non-smokers exposed to second-hand smoke.
Jamaica, despite having ratified the WHO Framework Convention for Tobacco Control in July 2005, has yet to fully satisfy its obligations under the treaty. We have failed to enact legislation to ban tobacco advertising and sponsorship, as well as smoking in public spaces, so as to protect our citizens from the many harmful effects of tobacco use.
The enactment of the legislation is critical, as it should result in the reduction in the demand for and use of tobacco products. This would be especially effective if there is a provision for tobacco products to be sold only as packaged, that is, by the pack or carton, as it would make the product unaffordable for many.
Importantly, too, selling tobacco other than packaged does not afford buyers the actual notice of the inherent, even if known, dangers associated with the use of the product.
Additionally, the new law would prevent the illicit supply of tobacco products, ensuring significant penalties for those providing or selling cheaper bootleg products. In the end, the health and economic well-being of our nation would improve on account of greater protection from tobacco smoke.
Speaking at the National World Diabetes Day breakfast meeting in Kingston in November last year, Minister Ferguson was reported to have said: "I am committed, as minister, to bring by the first quarter of financial year 2013-14 a [comprehensive] Tobacco Control Act that will deal with a smoke-free workplace and public space. This is something we have to look at."
Well, the minister has but another month to prove that he was not talking hogwash or taking us for a ride as was done by his predecessor, who made several unfulfilled promises for the presentation of the Bill to Parliament for consideration and enactment.
Kevin KO Sangster
sangstek@msn.com
One month left, Minister Ferguson
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Today, May 31, is being celebrated as World No Tobacco Day under the theme: Ban Tobacco Advertising, Promotion and Sponsorship.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of death globally, being responsible for killing one in 10 adults worldwide, including non-smokers exposed to second-hand smoke.
Jamaica, despite having ratified the WHO Framework Convention for Tobacco Control in July 2005, has yet to fully satisfy its obligations under the treaty. We have failed to enact legislation to ban tobacco advertising and sponsorship, as well as smoking in public spaces, so as to protect our citizens from the many harmful effects of tobacco use.
The enactment of the legislation is critical, as it should result in the reduction in the demand for and use of tobacco products. This would be especially effective if there is a provision for tobacco products to be sold only as packaged, that is, by the pack or carton, as it would make the product unaffordable for many.
Importantly, too, selling tobacco other than packaged does not afford buyers the actual notice of the inherent, even if known, dangers associated with the use of the product.
Additionally, the new law would prevent the illicit supply of tobacco products, ensuring significant penalties for those providing or selling cheaper bootleg products. In the end, the health and economic well-being of our nation would improve on account of greater protection from tobacco smoke.
Speaking at the National World Diabetes Day breakfast meeting in Kingston in November last year, Minister Ferguson was reported to have said: "I am committed, as minister, to bring by the first quarter of financial year 2013-14 a [comprehensive] Tobacco Control Act that will deal with a smoke-free workplace and public space. This is something we have to look at."
Well, the minister has but another month to prove that he was not talking hogwash or taking us for a ride as was done by his predecessor, who made several unfulfilled promises for the presentation of the Bill to Parliament for consideration and enactment.
Kevin KO Sangster
sangstek@msn.com
One month left, Minister Ferguson
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