Dear Editor,
THE Draft Tobacco Control Bill does not seek to ban smoking or the sale of cigarettes. Contrary to claims made by the Demerara Tobacco Company in the media, the draft Tobacco Control Bill does not propose to raise taxes on tobacco products, nor does it propose to prevent persons who have worked in the tobacco industry from obtaining government employment.The Draft Bill proposes that where someone seeking a government job has a tobacco-related conflict of interest, that person cannot be employed in that capacity (for obvious reasons). For example, such a conflict of interest would arise if someone who was recently employed in the tobacco industry were to seek a government job related to tobacco control.

Tobacco is the single greatest preventable cause of death in the world today. Not only does tobacco harm the smoker, but exposure to second-hand smoke causes illnesses and death in non-smokers as well.

The tobacco epidemic affects the economy by placing significant burdens on the public health care system to treat the chronic diseases smoking causes. Further, we cannot attribute a monetary cost to the pain, loss and suffering faced by individuals and families affected by the tobacco epidemic. The tobacco epidemic disproportionately affects the poor, and places socio-economic burdens on families for generations.

All of this is preventable with the implementation of effective legislation, policies and programmes to fight the tobacco epidemic.

Guyana acceded to the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) on 15 September, 2005, but has not executed any of its obligations. The objective of the WHO FCTC is the protection of the right of every person to the highest attainable standard of health; and to this end, the Convention establishes legislative and other evidence-based measures aimed at reducing the prevalence of tobacco consumption and exposure to second-hand smoke.

Tobacco control has also engaged the attention of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). In the Declaration of Port of Spain 2007, member states committed to pursue immediately WHO FCTC-compliant legislation. Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Suriname, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands have since all enacted tobacco control legislation.

In the meantime, Guyana has no tobacco control legislation; and the WHO Global Youth Tobacco Survey, which tracks tobacco use among youth in countries across the world, shows that the prevalence rate of youth tobacco consumption in Guyana was at 20.9% in 2010, better only than Dominica (25.3% in 2009) and Jamaica (28.7% in 2010) among all CARICOM member states.

The proposed Tobacco Control legislation seeks to protect individuals from the effects of second-hand smoke in all indoor public places, indoor workplaces, public transportation; and in specified outdoor public places, including ‘minibus parks’, playgrounds and parks, spaces for sports or performance, and spaces for the service or consumption of food or drink.

The Draft Bill also proposes a complete ban on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, which will significantly lower the initiation of use of tobacco products by minors, who tend to take up smoking because it is portrayed as ‘cool’, ‘macho’ or ‘rebellious’.

In the absence of a complete ban, the tobacco industry will shift its vast resources to promotional means that are not banned.

The Draft Bill also seeks to prohibit misleading tobacco packaging and labelling, and provides that tobacco products must bear prescribed health warnings and images. Fifty per cent of countries in the world require a minimum of fifty per cent of any tobacco product package to bear health warnings and images. These include our regional and continental neighbours – Trinidad and Tobago (50%), Suriname (50%), Brazil (50%), Jamaica (60%), Venezuela (65%), and Uruguay (80%).

Yours faithfully,

KESAUNDRA ALVES
Former Legal Officer, Tobacco Control
Ministry of Public Health