By Umar Bayo Abdulwahab
Association of Public Health Physicians of Nigeria (APHPN) has called on the federal government to impose high tax on tobacco products to lower death and diseases caused by smoking.
The association also urged the National Assembly to harmonise and pass into law a comprehensive tobacco control bill that would also impose a high tax on tobacco product to reduce its consumption.
Addressing a press conference yesterday in Ilorin on the “World No Tobacco Day,” President of the association, Prof. Tanimola Akande, said the measure became necessary “because both smokers and non-smokers die from related health diseases caused by smoking.”
The expert said a “10 per cent increase in tax means 5 per cent reduction in smoking, while 50 per cent tax increase will lead to 49 million reduction in smoking and 11 million death reduction.”
He said the consumption of tobacco in any form has no benefit to man rather than increase their risk of having preventable killer diseases such as colon cancer and other cardio-vascular diseases killing millions of people worldwide.
While reading his address, Akande said: “Worldwide, the global tobacco epidemic kills nearly six million people each year, while many more suffer quality of life from tobacco related sicknesses. Not only smokers die from smoking as evidences show that for every smokers who die from smoking, one nonsmoker die from secondhand smoke; which is the tobacco smoke that is exhaled by a smoker or given off by burning tobacco and is inhaled by persons nearby.
“The recent global tobacco survey (GATS) done in Nigeria revealed that amongst adults who had visited public places in the last 30 days preceding the survey, almost one out of every three were exposed to second hand smoke in restaurants; one out of every six in government buildings; and one out of every 20 in health care facilities.”
He added: “Our children are even more exposed to second hand smoke as up to 18.4 million children are exposed to secondhand in their homes, while 27.6 million are exposed in public spaces; making Nigeria one of the top ten countries low and middle income countries where children are more exposed to secondhand smoke.”
