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Ghana is making economic losses of over 97 million Gh ¢ to smoking.
This is explained by the direct costs related to health expenditures and the indirect costs badociated with the loss of productivity due to premature mortality and morbidity.
At the same time, directly hinders development and harms the environment, thereby increasing the threat to public health.
Dr. Robert Baba Kuganab-Lem, member of the Health Selection Commission and Member of Parliament, made this statement in an interview with Modernghana on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day in Accra on March 31, 2019.
World Tobacco Day is celebrated on May 31 each year to advocate against tobacco use and its illicit activities. The theme of this year's World No Tobacco Day was "Tobacco and Lung Health".
Commenting on the "No Tobacco Day", said Mr. Kuganab, MP for Binduri district, smoking has claimed the lives of more than 7.2 million people each year, the majority in the region. Southern Sahara Africa.
According to him, about 6 million lives lost are the result of direct use, while nearly 89,000 are due to exposure to second-hand smoke by non-smokers, stressing that "that goes beyond far from deaths from HIV / AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined, and is expected to increase to 10 million by 2030 if the phenomenon is not under control. "
The Binduri MP, who spoke pbadionately about the threat of tobacco, said that the World Health Organization (WHO) reports on smoking had revealed that smoking remained one of the main threats to the fight against global death.
"According to available reports, 1.1 billion people smoke in the world.South Africa is one of the first stages of the tobacco epidemic, characterized by a high prevalence of smoking among men and women and is home to about 80% of the global population of smokers, "he added.
Dr. Kuganab, a professor of medicine, explained that tobacco diseases, including heart disease, stroke, lung disease, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), combine emphysema with chronic bronchitis and death.
The legislator pointed out that the phenomenon could be largely attributed to the growing international trade in tobacco products, which makes tobacco products easily accessible and affordable. Nothing is the "flaw", the illicit trade continues to undermine tobacco control policies and jeopardize the already existing tobacco epidemic. "
In Ghana, for example, smoking is widespread because of population growth and urbanization. Approximately 77,900 men reported smoking cigarettes against 15,700 women, posing a serious threat to public health.
Nevertheless, said Dr. Kuganab, the government could strengthen the implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control as contained in Goal 3 of the goal of sustainable development (SDG) to ensure a healthy life in the country.
He also called on the government to speed up the process of ratifying the Protocol on the Elimination of Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products in order to reduce by about 90% the risk of lung cancer and the effects badociated with smoking.
The WHO tobacco control response framework, which has been ratified in Ghana for prevention, includes tax increases, tobacco-free public spaces, the ban on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, and health information and warnings.
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