WEAK regulation of tobacco products in some countries allows powerful companies to market those products unfettered, and to recruit young smokers, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has noted.According to a report issued by WHO on Monday January 16, its International Health Regulations and Framework Convention on Tobacco Control provide legal frameworks to countries for responding to public health emergencies and the global tobacco epidemic.
The contention of the WHO, the United Nations health agency, was contained in a wider report issued on Monday in which the body highlighted the use of the law to improve health. The body issued the report based on studies it conducted in conjunction with the International Development Law Organization (IDLO), the University of Sydney, and the Georgetown University in Washington, DC.
The passage of tobacco legislation here has been in the making for years. Guyana signed onto the WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) on 15 September, 2005. However, while other sister Caricom countries including Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago have enacted tobacco legislation, the Tobacco Control Bill here has been delayed for passage in the National Assembly. It was touted for passage in the National Assembly in 2016 but has since remained under discussion.
The proposed tobacco control legislation is expected to see a ban on smoking in public places, while cigarette advertising will be disallowed and graphic and text health warnings will have to be displayed on at least 75 per cent of the packaging on tobacco products.
The legislation seeks to ban smoking at all indoor workplaces, public transport and strictly regulates the sale of cigarettes while creating reporting requirements for manufacturers, wholesale distributors or importers, with stiff accompanying penalties, as well as imprisonment.
Last year , the Demerara Tobacco Company (DEMTOCO) described the draft tobacco bill as “draconian”, mainly the recommendations made in the bill. The company, as reported in some sections of the media, was particularly concerned with the imposition of a ban on public smoking and to prohibit advertisement and sponsorship from the tobacco industry, among other things. It has also called for consultation with the authorities on the crafting of legislation.
On Monday, the WHO said that the failure of some countries to comply with legal framework regarding tobacco use puts the world at risk of potentially catastrophic outbreaks and the long-term costs and health impacts of smoking.
Meanwhile, the WHO noted that there are hundreds of examples of the vital role the law plays in safeguarding and promoting good health globally. It listed several examples, including a soda tax implemented in Mexico in 2014, salt limits imposed in South Africa, legal impositions to national health insurance in Ghana, as well as mandatory motorcycle helmets use in Vietnam.
“Some of the best examples in this report use population-wide interventions to reshape the environments in which people make their lifestyle choices,” said Dr Rüdiger Krech, Director in the Health Systems and Innovation cluster at WHO in Geneva.
“This requires extraordinary government commitment, courage, and persistence in the face of powerful commercial interests”, Krech said.
On October 11, 2016 the WHO suggested that countries use their tax policies to increase the price of sugary drinks such as fizzy drinks, sport drinks as a way to fight diabetes, which is a non-communicable condition in which the amount of glucose (sugar) in one’s blood is too high resulting in the body not being able to use it properly. The umbrella body suggested a 20 per cent retail price increase for sugary products on the market. The law will be a vital tool for countries to make progress towards the health-related targets in the Sustainable Development Goals, the WHO said.
