The Food and Drug Authority (FDA) has established a series of measures outlining a comprehensive, crucial, and timely intervention and strategy to the country’s fast rising tobacco use epidemic.
The “National Tobacco Control Strategy (NTCS)” aims to achieve total eradication and subsequent prevention of tobacco use and exposure via the broad acceptance and execution of effective policies.
Although adult cigarette smoking prevalence rates in the country are among the lowest in the world (2.2%), tobacco-related diseases claim the lives of around 6,700 people annually.
In Ghana, more than 5,000 children (10-14 years old) and 491,000 adults (15+ years old) consume tobacco every day.
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Although cigarette smoking is still the most popular method of tobacco inhalation, there are other kinds of tobacco according to the FDA.
These include chewing, sniffing, smoking pipes (shisha), and youth usage of smokeless tobacco.
Strategy
The strategy, which runs from 2023 to 2028, would thereby lower demand and supply of tobacco products while increasing technological collaboration, research and creative finance, and preventing industry involvement.
It was inaugurated on Tuesday, November 14, in Accra and serves as a training venue for all stakeholders on the Protocol to End Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products.
This is an international convention whose goal is to put an end to all types of illegal tobacco trade through a bundle of measures implemented by governments working together.
Officials from state departments, security services, foreign partners, academia, and civil society were among those who attended the launch and training and contributed to the strategy’s development.
It would do this, among other things, by strengthening the current track and traceability features, enforcing the prohibition on the sale of single-stick cigarettes, enforcing tobacco control legislation, and creating a national register for all tobacco product places of sale.
Seth Seaneke, a Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the FDA, stated in a speech read on his behalf that the NTCS aims to safeguard current and future generations from the terrible health, social, environmental, and economic repercussions of tobacco use and exposure.
Additionally, he said that the training will make use of the combined knowledge and efforts of all participants, creating a consultative and cooperative environment where their goals would be in line with international interests and make the most of the resources at hand.
Commitment, SDGs
Dr. Baffour-Awuah, acting Director of the MOH’s Technical Coordination Directorate, described the launch as the culmination of extensive collaboration, research, and commitment by various stakeholders, experts, and civil society to guide the nation in combating the devastating effects of tobacco on health and the economy.
“This strategy outlines a comprehensive roadmap for effectively implementing measures that align with the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control of the World Health Organization.”
“This document reaffirms our nation’s steadfast dedication to a healthier, tobacco-free future,” the speaker stated.
Tobacco control, according to Dr. Joana Ansong, WHO Programmes Officer for Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs), is a tried-and-true strategy for lowering poverty and inequality, bolstering and growing the economy, and promoting sustainable development more broadly.
