As the Ministry of  Health moves to strengthen tobacco smoking control locally, Minister of Health Dr. Leslie Ramsammy has expressed concern that, in a world where tobacco smoking is a known killer, claiming millions of lives each year, more than 30 per cent of adult men are smokers, with women increasingly joining the ranks. Placing access to condoms, a life saver, side by side with access to cigarettes – universally acknowledged to be a killer of magnanimous proportions, the health minister bemoaned the fact that whereas less than 30 per cent of people have access to life saving condoms, vastly more than 30 percent of men alone, have access to cigarettes.

Notwithstanding, not only are the smokers themselves  being destroyed by their cigarette smoking habits, but non-smokers as well (passive smokers), including children and the elderly, babies in the womb – all of whom inhale the smoke puffed out by tobacco users.  According to Dr. Ramsammy, in Guyana, more than 60 percent of the population is exposed to second hand (or passive) smoking.

Concerned that the message against cigarette smoking has not made an appreciable impact, Dr. Ramsammy again made a clarion call to the population in which he urged persons against smoking. Reiterating that smoking is reckless behaviour, the health minister emphasized, “Everytime you take out a cigarette and smoke it, you are engaging in reckless behaviour  and endangering the lives of others.”

Dr. Ramsammy made these observations as he delivered the feature address at a Data Dissemination Workshop: Statistics show that, locally, 15 percent of the, population, are smokers, 7 percent of whom are women. Of that amount, 9 percent are in the 40-44 age group, and 3 percent between the ages of 15 to 39.

Against this backdrop, Dr. Ramsammy conceded that far too many people have access to the addictive and killer product, adding “This means that we have not done a good job of limiting, restricting and making cigarettes unavailable to people.” Stressing the importance of protecting every citizen from tobacco locally, he said that this is an imperative in the attempt to strengthen tobacco control in Guyana.

Dr. Ramsammy noted that, despite global consensus on the fact that tobacco is a killer, there is still no consensus on a way in which to limit, restrict or make the product unavailable to people.

Estimating that the global annual death toll could reach 8 million by 2030, the World Health Organization last month said that tobacco will kill nearly 6 million people worldwide this year, including 600,000 non-smokers.

Dr. Ramsammy alluded to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the world’s first global public health treaty under the auspices of the World Health Organization (WHO), which Guyana has signed on to.

The treaty entered into force in February 2005 was signed by 168 of the 192 WHO member states, and more than 170 WHO member states (including Guyana) have become parties to the convention. The minister was of the view that signing on to this treaty was the biggest leap Guyana has ever taken in public health.

The FCTC provides an internationally co-ordinated response to combating the tobacco epidemic, and sets out specific steps for governments addressing tobacco use, including to:

•    Adopt tax and price measures to reduce tobacco consumption;
•    Ban tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship;
•    Create smoke-free work and public spaces;
•    Put prominent health warnings on tobacco packages;
•    Combat illicit trade in tobacco products.

Noting that tobacco manufacturers use many subtle means of getting their products advertised, Minister Ramsammy cautioned that organisations and citizens at large need to be aware of the tactics they are likely to employ. “Too many of our organizations (including governmental organizations) allow themselves to be hoodwinked by manufacturers seeking back door ways to advertise their products (for example by offering sponsorship of events), Dr. Ramsammy warned.

He called on the nation to confront tobacco vigourously and with a commitment to creating a vision for Guyana. Cautioning that no citizen’s life should be cut short or filled with misery because of tobacco, he affirmed, “We must create an impeccable record for a Guyana that is smoke free.”

And PAHO’s Dr. Adriana Blanco, who spoke on the status of the FCTC implementation in the Americas, congratulated Dr. Ramsammy’s presentation, adding that Guyana’s health sector is fortunate to have such leadership.

Meanwhile, in a move to robustly step up the campaign against tobacco smoking, the United States last week released graphic tobacco warning labels on cigarette boxes. Terrifying graphics depicting dead bodies, diseased lungs, rotting teeth are some of the many such examples. Other images highlight the dangers of second-hand smoke to children and show tobacco’s causal link to lung disease, cancer, strokes, heart disease and death, a Reuters news story said, adding that it is hoped that the graphics will help persons quit smoking.

The Guyana Meeting on Tobacco Surveillance and Policy Development, was held at de Impeccable Banquet Hall in the city.
The forum was sponsored by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) in Guyana, whose Resident Representative is Dr. Beverley Barnett.