The Ministry of Health and Social Services has intensified measures to strengthen the Tobacco Control law.

It is against this background that the government engaged stakeholders at Nkurenkuru on proposed amendments.

The country ratified the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2005.

This led to the Tobacco Products Control Act 1 of 2010 and its regulations, which came into effect in 2015.

Speaking at a stakeholder engagement meeting, health officials said the overall direction of the proposed amendment is to broaden the Act beyond cigarettes and other traditional tobacco products.

National Programme Coordinator for Substance Abuse Prevention, Iyaloo Theofelus, explained.

“Remember, the issue of new and emerging tobacco and nicotine products was something that was not very familiar in our country. But ever since COVID-19, we have been in isolation with limited movement. These products were introduced, people were enticed to use them, and their use grew out of proportion.”

Proposed amendments will bring in several changes, such as stronger smoke-free protection, better enforcement structures, expanded product coverage and a broader nicotine definition.

Attendees also shared their views.

“You can stand at, let us say, maybe more than 100 meters, but you can still feel that the person is smoking on that side. For the non-smokers, you can identify that the person is still smoking. It might be 50 meters, it might still not be enough.”

“And most of the population that is actually affected is the youth. So now, how do we strengthen or put measures in place at each institution? Because if I come to your shop and say, ‘I want to buy tobacco,’ how do we know that I am above the legal age? How do we know that I am over 18?”

“And we know that smoking is doing more harm than good. What are the benefits of smoking? It’s just killing people, whether they are old or young. Look in the streets; there are a lot of mental health issues because of smoking. So why not ban it?”

“Because when people try to avoid what is expensive, we end up introducing illicit goods.”

The Ministry of Health and Social Services says public input will inform the final amendment bill.