Tobacco Act should be enforced without delay

May 20, 2018 Consumer Concerns, Features / Columnists

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By PAT DIAL

Smoking and the use of tobacco products have been long controlled in almost all countries and especially in the most developed and intelligent. It is an accepted commonplace that the use of tobacco and tobacco products could cause the deterioration of the user’s health, cause familial tensions and problems in that the smoker has to deploy some of his income to tobacco when food, clothes, education and medical help are badly required by his family.
The smoker’s health deteriorates and he becomes unable to contribute to the economic life of the country or to contribute in a much diminished way. The large numbers who have contracted smoke-related diseases become a burden on the country’s health services.
Smokers could infect persons who have absolutely no connection with tobacco by secondary or second-hand smoking when smoking is done in closed or ill-ventilated areas and non-smokers are forced to inhale the fumes.
Second-hand smoking is just as dangerous to health as to the original smoker’s. The tobacco industry in Guyana and tobacco industries all over the world seem to have moved away from their defense of the negative health effects of tobacco.
Their strategy seems to have changed – merely to ignore the negative health effects of tobacco and to try to continue business as usual. At the last Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Demtoco nothing was said about consumer interests or concerns.
In the past, the Ministry of Public Health appeared to be far more committed to passing legislation and effectuating it and that enthusiasm was communicated to the public. Our take is that the Ministry must be more proactive in educating the public and putting the legislation at work.
What remains to have this long-delayed tobacco legislation functional is to have a final meeting between the Ministry and Demtoco to resolve their concerns.
From the media reports, DEMTOCO is primarily interested in the Ministry publishing the Regulations to the Act, but the Ministry’s public relations officer claimed that the Regulations are now being drafted. The drafting of such Regulations should not be a lengthy process since the Regulations used in all Caribbean jurisdictions are much the same.
DEMTOCO says it has six main concerns with the Tobacco Control Act. These concerns seem to mainly relate to Part VI of the Act: The Act prohibits tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship since such is likely to promote the tobacco industry, directly and indirectly. Advertising a product is usually designed to attract new customers.
Non-advertising in no way prevents those who wish to buy the product from so doing. And various promotions, such as sports promotions tend to glamorize the product.
The PAHO/WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco gives the same idea more succinctly:”The tobacco epidemic is not one that is spread by infection but by promotion and advertisement. Tobacco Advertising, Sponsorship and Promotion glamorize the use of tobacco products with positive personal and social images.”
The Legislation also tries to control and eliminate secondary smoking. Secondary or second-hand smoking is as dangerous to the victim as to the smoker himself. The victim inhales the smoke or fumes expelled by the smoker and is subject to contracting the same diseases and ailments.
Accordingly, the Act provides for a smoking ban on indoor public places, indoor work places, public transportation and also in specified outdoor places including premises of schools and health facilities, and places for commercial service of food and drink.
The Regulations to the Act will guide sales and packaging which will be different from what obtains to-day. Pictorial representations of the effects of tobacco- related diseases will be carried on each box or package and such pictures should be chosen by the Ministry and not the company or tobacco interests.
The Ministry has to immediately carry out a comprehensive programme to educate the public of the operations of the Act so that there could be no confusion. For example, the rumour that the Act totally bans smoking should be exorcised.
DEMTOCO claims that 23% of the cigarettes imported into the country is contraband and that if the Act is enforced in its present form, the smuggling rate would grow exponentially causing itself to lose profits and Government to lose revenue.
The Company has never provided convincing evidence to support these claims. In any case, the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) has taken the initiative of stamping every individual product imported by DEMTOCO so that these could be easily differentiated from smuggled products, thus greatly controlling smuggling. The Ministry must put the Act in operation without further delay.

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