...Stakeholders Want to Know

Has Ghana’s Tobacco Control Bill put together by a National Tobacco Steering Committee, for the attention of government gone missing? This was the question on the lips of many concerned civil society groups and individual Ghanaians at a recent strategic meeting on tobacco control in Accra. JEORGE WILSON KINGSON reports.

Provisions of the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) make it mandatory for all signatory countries to formulate legislations that will protect their citizenry from the numerous health hazards associated with tobacco use. Ghana was the 39th country in the world to sign unto the convention and the first country in West Africa sub-region to ratify it in 2004.
All attempts since then to enact a law to regulate tobacco use in the country has witnessed several challenges causing many to doubt government’s commitment to achieving the set goals spelt out in the Convention. Though some steps have indeed been taken by government towards the implementation of the FCTC it appears much more has to be done if the efforts are to yield any significant result.
By signing on to the FCTC Ghana has committed itself to among others “Adopt and implement effective legislative, executive, administrative and or other measures and cooperate, as appropriate, with other parties in developing appropriate policies for preventing and reducing tobacco consumption, nicotine addiction and exposure to tobacco smoke”
In doing so the country would be achieving the overall objective of the convention which is “To protect present and future generations from the devastating health, social, environmental and economic consequences of tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco smoke”
In its efforts at meeting this demand the National Tobacco Steering Committee (NTSC) started formulating a national tobacco control bill in 2005 for the attention of government. It is almost six years now since the drafting of the bill was concluded but, clearly, there is little indication that the bill will be passed into law anytime soon. Latest checks indicate the bill is yet to get to parliament for consideration.
A number of reasons have been deduced as the cause for the delay in the passage of the Bill. Among them is the low level of awareness among stakeholders about tobacco control and FCTC issues. Also included is the inadequate involvement of the media, key law makers and public opinion to support the bill. More importantly also is the interference of the tobacco industry in tobacco control policy issues in the country.
Then also the issue of whether the bill should form part of the general Public Health Bill or be made to stand alone. The Public Health bill is a consolidation of all existing legislations on the various issues concerning public health. It includes existing legislations on Mosquito Control, Quarantine, Infectious Disease, Vaccination; Food and Drugs Law. The rest are the Public Nuisance Bill; Tobacco Control Bill; The Patients Charter; International Health Regulations; Ethics in Health among others.
The general consensus as gathered from Cabinet sources is that it is okay to make the tobacco control bill a public health issue; thus the Public Health Bill when it finally comes to Parliament will include the tobacco control bill. This in effect means that Cabinet has given approval to the contents of the tobacco control bill.
However, there are uncertainties as to when exactly government intends to move beyond the rhetoric and put its words into action by forwarding the bill to parliament. The issue is more confusing now that the stakeholders are complaining of haven lost track of the exact location of the bill.
Later last year, the out gone Minister of Health, Dr. Benjamin Kumbuor, released a statement to the effect that the sector ministry has forwarded the draft document to cabinet for attention. A later communication said the bill was with the Attorney General’s Department for fine tuning and final inputs. Recently, it was learnt that the bill has gotten to parliament awaiting passage. Checks for the bill in Parliament have whoever proved futile.
This is what is creating panic among stakeholders in the industry who fear the inconsistency in the whereabouts of the bill at this particular period could cause further delay in its passage which may not be in the best interest of the country’s international image.
At a recent meeting in Accra to re-strategize on the way forward in the fight for the passage of a tobacco control bill for Ghana members of Civil Society Groups, including Vision for Alternative Development (VALD), Coalition of Non-Governmental Organizations in Tobacco Control (CNTC), Media Alliance in Tobacco Control (MATCO) and the Community Health Support Team (CHEST) among others expressed deep worry about latest developments regarding the tobacco control bill.
The Coalition on the Tobacco Control Bill says it is more confused on the issue following the recent cabinet reshuffle which saw the replacement of Dr Benjamin Kumbuor with Hon. Joseph Yieleh Chireh as the Minister of Health. Stakeholders fear the new minister may not demonstrate enough commitment to the bill which may lead to its further delay.
After intensive deliberations on the way forward, members of the coalition have agreed to embark on a nationwide sensitization walk beginning April 10, 2011 to raise public awareness on the harmful effects of tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke as well as to bring public attention to the government’s delay in the passage of the Tobacco Control Bill into law. Petitions will also be presented to the Minister of Health and the Speaker of Parliament among others.

All these efforts according to members of the coalition is to cause government to state its stand on the bill, to correct the horrendous impression that certain “powerful” elements in government are deliberately frustrating the passage of the bill so as to serve their parochial interest.

Ghana has been the choice of many international and regional tobacco control strategy meetings and therefore cannot afford to lose this credibility with the global tobacco control community.

While Ghana’s Bill is pending or basically missing, the government of Niger has effectively passed legislation on tobacco control. There is currently a ban on public smoking in Abuja, Nigeria, and Nigerian tobacco control Bill is at the second stage of reading in parliament. The governments of Kenya and Mauritius who have all signed onto the convention have all passed legislations on tobacco control.

The swift passage of the Tobacco Control Bill into Law will protect present and future generations from lung, oral and throat cancers, heart diseases, heart attack, infertility, miscarriage, drug addiction and poverty.

But the picture is not entirely gloomy as there have been some successes chalked in the various national attempts at controlling tobacco use in the country. The recently launched Civil Society Shadow Report on Ghana’s implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control highlights some of the successes achieved so far.

The Ministry of Health (MoH) has issued a directive to compel all existing and prospective importers of tobacco products to have their products registered with the Food and Drugs Board (FDB). The directive which is in line with the FCTC is accordingly being observed. To have ratified the FCTC and gone ahead to prepare a draft bill for the consideration of cabinet and parliament is also no mean achievement.

Until recently health warnings on tobacco packages in Ghana covered only five percent of the packaging. The Food and Drugs (FDB), the agency currently responsible for regulating tobacco use in Ghana has since come out with rotational messages covering 50% of the front and back panels of the principal display surface and one MoH warning at the point of sale covering its specifications.

The shadow report recommends that government swiftly pass the Tobacco Control Bill into law with strong provisions and in full compliance with the FCTC. “The government must pass the Tobacco Control Bill into law with strong provisions on ‘labeling of tobacco products’ and to ensure the enforcement of pictorial health warnings covering 80% of the main surfaces of tobacco pack. The FDB must comprehensively enforce the MoH’s tobacco control directives by introducing pictorial health warnings on tobacco products.” the report stated.

“Despite the present taxes on tobacco products, cigarettes sold in Ghana are still cheap, affordable and easily accessible. The government is being urged to further increase taxes on tobacco products to make them expensive and to raise revenue to finance health related ailments as a result of tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke in accordance with the FCTC” Issah Ali, National Coordinator of the tobacco coalition stated in an interview.

Ghana’s population is expected to benefit massively and rapidly from effective implementation of the tobacco directives, the FCTC, and the tobacco control bill when passed into law. Structures have been established within the public and private sectors for the implementation of the FCTC and all legislations emanating from it.

The writer is a journalist and the First Vice Chairman of Media Alliance in Tobacco Control (MATCO)