Parliament urged to pass LI to control tobacco use 

The Coalition on Tobacco Control has advocated the passage of the Legislative Instrument (LI) on Tobacco Control Measures. 

A statement by the Coalition signed by the Programmes Director of the Vision for Alternative Development, Labram Musah, said health regulations to save the lives of present and future generations from the effect of tobacco use, have still not been adopted by Parliament for the past four years. 

This, the Coalition said, is affecting the implementation of part six of the Public Health Act, 2012 ACT 851 on Tobacco Control Measures, which was passed by Parliament to ban tobacco smoking in public.  

The statement urges stakeholders to consider the immediate passage of the LI to control tobacco use nationwide.

The statement said currently, in Ghana, 50 men get killed by tobacco every week and this number is expected to grow if urgent action is not taken. 

It said what is even more troubling is that 32 thousand 500 boys and 21 thousand girls smoke cigarettes in Ghana each day. 

The Coalition said the passage of the LIs would save the people from the devastating economic, social and environmental consequences of tobacco use and exposure. 

The Coalition said globally, countries are formulating policies that would effectively control the use of tobacco, especially among the youth revealing that, research has showed that women and children are the most affected by tobacco.   

The statement said, it is encouraged by the initiatives of the Ministry of Health, Foods and Drugs Authority, Parliamentary Select Committee on Health and the Parliamentary Select Committee on Subsidiary Legislation and calls on these partners to push for the swift adoption of  the draft Tobacco Control Regulations when Parliament reconvenes in October.   

GNA