CPCR calls for Tobacco Control Bill to pass

The Center for Primary Care Research (CPCR) has called on the New Dawn Government to expeditiously pass the Tobacco Control Bill and domesticate the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control which will pave way for the implementation of the health treaty signed in 2008 and still awaits implementation.

CPCR Director Dr Faston Goma has also called on the ministries of health, agriculture, local government and commerce, trade and industry to work in a multisectoral manner to adopt a consolidated position on a tobacco smoke free environment.

Dr. Goma notes with concern that tobacco not only kills directly through causing cancer and other non communicable diseases among its users, but that its production impoverishes families and destroys the environment.

He has accused the tobacco industry of promoting a misleading narrative that tobacco cultivation leads to prosperity for farmers.

Speaking at a media briefing in Lusaka to mark the commemoration of World No Tobacco Day under the theme: “Tobacco, a threat to the environment”, Dr. Goma says tobacco cultivation is a scourge for the environment, as it destroys the fragile ecosystem and other potentially productive land.

And Dr Goma has recommended for a total ban of tobacco smoking in public places in order to offer a 100 percent smoke free environment.

The World Health Organization -WHO- reports that tobacco smoking air pollution causes approximately 7 million deaths annually including more than 3 million as a result of heart disease.