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Towards a Smoke-free world

02.05.08
INTERNATIONAL TREND AND STATISTICS
Tobacco is number one cause of preventable diseases and deaths worldwide. The death toll which is
currently 5 million annually is more than HIV/AIDS, homicide, fire-incidents and auto-accidents combined
says World Health Organization (WHO). The world’s current population of 6.5 billion people has 1.3 billion
as smokers who smoke 15 billion cigarettes per day. Half of this number (650 million) will eventually be
killed by tobacco; the deaths of 375 million of them will be in productive middle age (35-69). It is also
estimated that if current trends continue, there will be 10 million deaths each year by 2020 with 7 out of 10 of
these deaths from low and middle income countries including Nigeria. The World Health Organisation
Framework Convention on Tobacco Control aims at influencing nations at instituting Tobacco control laws
in their respective countries. There are presently 154 countries that have ratified the treaty. Columbia is the
latest. Nigeria signed up the treaty in April 2005 and ratified in October of that same year. Since then the
Federal Ministry of Health in collaboration with civil society groups have been putting together a
COMPREHENSIVE TOBACCO CONTROL BILL aimed at domesticating the WHO-FCTC.

LEGISLATION
Presently, a draft National Tobacco Control bill is ready to go to the parliament for hearing. It is a
comprehensive bill which seeks to ban all Tobacco advertising, promotions and sponsorship both direct and
indirect. It also will ban smoking in all indoor public places including restaurants, bars, pubs and hospitality
facilities. It also includes the restrictions of sale of cigarette to and by minors under age 18. It will also stop
the sale of cigarette 1000 meters away from any school, church, mosque or cinema. It also aims at
increasing taxes of tobacco products. Another important part of the bill is the labeling and packaging of
tobacco products. Over 50% of the package will now contain real graphic warning signs including
“Tobacco kills:, “It causes lung cancer” and all these with real pictures depicting the message. Tobacco
will no longer be sold by the sticks but by the packs with minimum of 20 sticks.

N.B The announcement and/or public hearing on this bill is the high point of our campaign. We need
public and media support.

DANGERS OF TOBACCO SMOKING

Tobacco smoking harms both the smoker and the non-smoker. It causes serious terminal diseases like lung
cancer and other cardiovascular diseases. It causes pneumonia and worsens asthma conditions in children
exposed to the smoke. It harms the foetus of the pregnant woman that either smokes or is exposed to
Environmental Tobacco Smoke(ETS).

Tobacco smoke contains over 4,000 chemical substances and about 40 of them are carcinogens .i.e
cancer causing. Amongst these substances, there is carbon-monoxide, tar and nicotine. Nicotine is the
addictive substance in cigarette that makes it very difficult for smokers to quit.

TOBACCO INDUSTRY DECEITS

The tobacco industry has often employed a strategy of recruiting smokers in their early teenage through
adverts, sponsorships and promotions knowing that they will smoke for a very long time thereby causing
grave damages and deaths in their Productive middle age(35-69) and increasing the profit line of the
industry while undermining the adverse effects on health and economy. The youth make up a huge market in
this West African country, with its 135 million inhabitants. More than 40 percent of the Nigerian population is
below 14 years of age.

The World Health Organization estimates that 18 percent of young Nigerians smoke -- despite the health
warnings on cigarette packs.

TOBACCO LITIGATION
Owing to the presence of weak and ineffective tobacco control laws In Nigeria and the stringent measures
taken against tobacco firms in the developed world, they have turned the developing countries with Nigeria
as a major market into a dumping ground where they market and promote their deadly products. With the
globalization of the tobacco epidemic, it has come to the knowledge of developing countries, the looming
dangers of tobacco and that if not checked the death toll is bound to triple in the nearest future. To that
effect, the Federal Government is presently in court against Tobacco firms claiming damages for the
liabilities caused by these tobacco firms which includes, the diseases and deaths, the health cost bore by
the Government which amounts to billions of Naira yearly.

Some states like Lagos, Oyo, Ekiti, Gombe and Kano are in similar suits against tobacco firms. Other States
of the Federation are encouraged to institute similar suits on the tobacco firms as it will go a long way
sounding so much warning to these firms.

EONOMIC COSTS

In March, 2008, the Lagos State government requested $21.6 billion to compensate the state for the cost of
treating tobacco related illness. The state government claims that such illnesses kill two people everyday in
Lagos hospitals, costing 216,000 naira (about $2,500) a month. The number of smokers increases by 20
percent every year in the state, the Lagos government said.

Generally, the Nigerian government spends Billions every year treating tobacco –related ailments.

QUIT SUPPORT
We provide quit support to smoker who intend to quit by counseling and provision of cessation.
Smokers are hereby advised to quit the deadly habit. The benefits of quitting are enormous. The excess
risks of developing heart diseases may be reduced by as much as half in a year or two after quitting. After
15 years, the former smoker’s risk of heart diseases approaches that of a person who has never smoked.
Quitting reduces the risk of lung cancer; 10 years after quitting, the risk for lung cancer is 30% to 50% that of
the risk of those who continue to smoke. Men who quit at age 35 increase their life expectancy by 7 to 9
years. Women who quit at the same age increase their life expectancy by 6 to 8 years. It is never too late to
gain benefits from quitting which includes saving huge amounts of money once spent on tobacco. Also
quitting at age 45 increases life expectancy by 6 to 7 years. Quitting at 55 years increase life expectancy by
3 to 6 years. Quitting by age 65 increases life expectancy by 1.4 to 4 years. (Center for Disease
Prevention and Control- CDC, USA )

SMOKEFREE FOUNDATION
Save lives and stay smoke-free