GUYANA is the recipient of the World No Tobacco Day Award conferred by the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence disclosed on Wednesday at the launch of Health Expo 2018.
The minister made the announcement on the eve of World No Tobacco Day.

“Tomorrow (today), May 31 is designated World No Tobacco Day and Guyana has much to celebrate. Less than a year ago, Guyana took a strong stance against the use of tobacco and today our efforts have been duly awarded,” Minister Lawrence told the gathering as she made the announcement.

In August 2017, the Tobacco Control Act became law after the bill was passed by the National Assembly and assented to by President David Granger.

It took effect on December 11, 2017, following the issuance of a commencement order by Minister Lawrence. However, the initial focus is on the Tobacco Industry.
The Public Health Ministry had said that the Act would be gradually enforced.
Part VI of the Act addresses the issues of advertising, promotion and sponsorship. According to Section 19 “All advertising, promotion and sponsorship of tobacco products and electronic delivery systems are prohibited.”

It was stated that the prohibition includes any tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship that promote or are likely to promote the tobacco industry, directly or indirectly.

PAHO/WHO National Consultant, Attorney-at-Law Kesaundra Alves had explained that the comprehensive ban on all tobacco advertising promotion and sponsorship is in keeping with Article 13 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), noting that it was critical to block all loop holes 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) glamorizes tobacco use by associating the use of tobacco products with positive social and personal images,” Alves had posited. According to her, stamping out all forms of TAPS is the only way to eliminate the tobacco epidemic. The Act provides for a ban on smoking in indoor public places, indoor work places and public transportation, and only in specified outdoor places including the premises of schools and health facilities, and places for the commercial service of food and drinks. The Tobacco Control Act regulates where persons can smoke tobacco products in order to protect others from exposure to dangerous secondhand smoke, but it does not ban smoking.