CSOs ask FG to commence effective implementation of Tobacco control regulations

Civil society groups have asked the federal government to immediately start the effective implementation of the tobacco control regulations.

According to them, this will help to end the rising consumption by the youth who remain addicted.

Tobacco smoking poses a huge burden to Nigerian youths and it remains a major global public health challenge. It is a risk factor for most leading causes of deaths.

One in five students aged between 13-15 years have experimented with cigarettes and about 1 in 10 students smoke cigarettes. (This is according to the global youth tobacco survey of Nigeria 2008).

4.5 million Adults 15 years and older currently smoke while 6.4 million of adults were exposed to second hand smoke during visits to public places.( Global Adult tobacco survey report).

They equally want the implementation of the national tobacco control regulations of 2019.

They stressed that the near zero allocation to tobacco control in the 2020 national budget has reinforced the need to institutionalize a funding mechanism. Through Setting up the tobacco control fund which will be funded with tobacco taxes

It is estimated that 100 million premature deaths occurred globally in the 20th century, due to tobacco smoking. Equally, tobacco smokers are believed to lose one decade of their life expectancy, when compared to people who
have never smoked.