GUYANA’S ability to reduce the number of young people smoking tobacco will determine the impact of the Tobacco Control Bill, PAHO/WHO National Consultant, Attorney-at-Law Kesaundra Alves said as she made a detailed presentation on the proposed legislation.
The Tobacco Control Bill 2017 was read in the National Assembly last June at a time when the public health authorities are faced with the sad reality that more and more young people are engaging in tobacco-smoking.

The bill seeks to adopt and implement tobacco-control policies in accordance with the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which aims to protect present and future generations from the “devastating harms of tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke; to prevent tobacco use by minors; to protect workers and the public from exposure to tobacco smoke.”
In her presentation to a group of media operatives at the Grand Coastal Hotel on the Tobacco Act, Alves said the bill places tremendous emphasis on the prevention of youth initiation.

“The people who are smoking today will most likely continue to smoke tomorrow and the day after, so it will take a while for us to see the impact, but what we can do right now is prevent young people from picking up this habit. That is going to be the greatest impact of the legislation – stopping young people from smoking,” the PAHO/WHO national consultant stated.
Referencing the Guyana 2010 Country Report – Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS), Alves pointed out that 11 per cent of the students surveyed were offered a “free” cigarette by a cigarette company.

That report also stated that over half of them (56.8 per cent) were never denied the sale of cigarettes because of their age. However, once the Tobacco Control Bill is passed and implemented, it would be illegal for children under the age of 18 to purchase tobacco products.

TIGHT CONTROL
The legislation will also pave the way for a ban on the sale of single cigarettes with no less than 20 cigarettes per pack and 20g of smokeless tobacco products per pack.
“Single stick sales make it easier for children to buy tobacco products; and also prevent consumers’ access to health warnings,” Alves explained.

Maintaining that the legislation does not ban tobacco-smoking, but will control the smoking of tobacco products, Alves emphasised that it is in keeping with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) which has been signed by 180 states.
She noted that Article 5.3 of the Convention addresses the protection of tobacco control and public health policies from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry.

DEMTOCO Chairman Amanda Cavill de Zavaley, in a 2015 news article had complained that the tobacco company was not included in the series of consultations conducted during the formulation of the bill, but, Alves, who had been working on the proposed legislation since 2011, said Article 5.3 of the FCTC does not allow for that.
“We could not directly interface with the tobacco Industry, the measures that the tobacco industry wants run counter to public health. There is no seat for public health and the tobacco interest at the same table,” she told the media operatives.

However, she noted that the Private Sector Commission, the Chambers of Commerce, and businesses within the restaurant and hospitality sector were consulted. According to her, the arguments brought to the table, which were likely influenced by the tobacco industry, were not new.

NOTHING NEW
“Same arguments, over and over nothing new, so we know what they were coming with anyways,” she emphasised.
Demerara Tobacco Company (DEMTOCO) is a subsidiary of the British-American Tobacco Company. It has an annual revenue of US$63 billion.
Even though DEMTOCO ceased production in Guyana in 1997, it still markets and distributes widely in Guyana. The tobacco company continues to make a profit with the increase in tobacco sales over the years at an average yearly rate of 18 per cent.
Article 6 deals with price and tax measures to reduce the demand for tobacco, Alves said, while noting that although the current bill does not address this particular issue, it will be addressed soon.

“We intentionally didn’t touch on taxation in our Tobacco Control Bill. We wanted everything in that bill to be within the mandate of the Ministry and the Minister of Public Health, taxation was/is a finance issue,” the PAHO/WHO national consultant explained.
Increased taxation on tobacco products has proven to be an effective way of discouraging the use of such products.

Like Article 8 of the Convention, the bill speaks to the protection from exposure to tobacco smoke in workplaces, public transport and indoor public places, among other public places.
Once implemented, the law will allow for a comprehensive ban of all tobacco advertising promotion and sponsorship in keeping with Article 13.
Alves said this move was critical to block the loophole that the local tobacco industry may want to use to its advantage.
“The tobacco epidemic is one that is not spread by infection, but by promotion and advertisement. Tobacco Advertising, Promotion and Sponsorship (TAPS) glamorises tobacco use by associating the use of tobacco products with positive social and personal images.”

It was emphasised that stamping out all forms of TAPS is the only way to eliminate the tobacco epidemic.
Public Health Ministry’s head of public relations Terrence Esseboom said the problem of smoking has not escaped regional attention, pointing out that in 2007, CARICOM member states were spurred into legislative action to become WHO FCTC-compliant. Guyana, he noted, however, has been behind.

“As a consequence, Trinidad and Tobago passed its Tobacco Control Act in 2009. In 2010, Barbados passed its Health Services (Prohibition of Tobacco Smoking in Public Places) Regulations banning smoking in public places. Suriname followed suit in 2013, banning smoking in public places and all tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship,” he said.
Esseboom added: “In that same year (2013) also, Jamaica passed the Public Health (Tobacco Control) Regulations banning smoking in indoor public places and specified outdoor places (including bus stops and sports stadiums) and five metres therefrom.

Jamaica also requires that 60 per cent of all tobacco product packages bear health warnings and graphic images,” he added.
In associate member state, The Cayman Islands, smoking is banned in public places under their Tobacco Law 2008 and Regulations 2010 giving teeth to the measure.