PASSIVE SMOKING AFFECTING CHILDREN – MASEBO

By KALOBWE BWALYA

NEARLY half of all children breathe air polluted by tobacco smoke and about 65, 000 women smoking while pregnant could lead to several life-long health conditions, says Minister of Health Sylvia Masebo.

Ms. Masebo said for children, it was worse as they were at risk of dying each year due to illnesses related to passive smoking.

In an interview, Ms. Masebo said it was imperative that the country implemented and enforced the Tobacco Control Law that would be compliant with not only the international best practices, but also safeguard the health and well-being of the people, especially the youths.

She said over 7000 people die every year in Zambia as a result of tobacco-related diseases and that this was worrisome adding that there was a need for individual African countries to put in place practices that reduced harmful use of tobacco.

She revealed that in 2015, the number of smokers across the world was at 60 million but was projected to increase to 84 million by next year and this would be a 61.5 percent relative increase in the number of smokers compared to the year 2000.

She stated that tobacco use by the general population remained a source of concern particularly for the youth and women and that there was a need to act at personal, family, community, national and international levels to fight this public health threat.

She observed that tobacco was highly addictive and that its persistent use was a major risk factor for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and that over 20 different types or subtypes of cancer had been associated with tobacco use.

She disclosed that the Ministry of Health had taken keen interest in the deliberations of the conference organised by the semi-annual Bill and Melinda Gates Tobacco Control conference, hoping that it would come up with useful recommendations to form policy.

“Zambia ratified the World Health Organization (WHO) framework convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in 2008. However, we are yet to comply with all articles of the framework convention and this is the reason that the Government is resolved to contain the harmful tobacco use through responsive and effective legislation,” said Ms. Masebo.

 “My call to action is to encourage all core partners, civil society, academia and research institutions to continue educating the citizenry on the harmful effects of tobacco use and let us all contribute to mitigating the harmful effects of tobacco use in our various countries and regions,“ she added.