FDA is congratulated for closing Shisha shops

The director of programs for VALD, Labram Musah, said in a statement copied to the media that as part of updating its mandate to monitor and monitor the implementation of tobacco control measures of the Public Health Act (Act 851) and the Tobacco Control Regulations (LI 2247), it has attracted FDA attention to the illegal practice of smoking in public places. that all tobacco products must have FDA-approved health warnings, yet many hotels and restaurants have opened nargile lounges / joints daily without approved health warnings

. He said: "We are of the opinion that there are deliberate attempts to promote youth smoking, contrary to what the law says." The influx of chicha in the country has adverse health consequences for Ghanaian youth who are targeted by industry

"We all know that smoking is banned in all public places in Ghana except in designated smoking areas. Shisha is found and smoked openly in many communities, posing serious health problems especially to occasional smokers including children and pregnant women. "

The VALD expresses the hope that the FDA will intensify its surveillance activities and visit all joints – bars, restaurants, hotels, among others – and confiscate all unregistered products.

The statement says shisha , also referred to as a water pipe, is a smoking device, which uses an indirect heat source (such as charcoal lit) to slowly burn tobacco leaves while users suck smoke through a water chamber in their mouth through the pipes.

He said contrary to the "misconception" that the shisha was not as harmful as the cigarette, the British According to the Heart Foundation, a shisha session of one hour would be equivalent to smoking more than 100 cigarettes in one sitting.

"In addition to known diseases such as heart disease, cancer, respiratory diseases and pregnancy problems, smokers a risk. A high level of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, hepatitis among others, and the World Health Organization (WHO), in a recent advisory note to regulators, revealed that smoking shisha posed serious risks for the health.

Shisha and water pipes imported into Ghana were illegal and all tobacco products had to be registered with the FDA before being allowed to enter the country.

"Our source indicates that they come from neighboring countries by unauthorized roads.Some of the products do not have a country of origin and no one knows that the actual constituents of these products are overused by young people and some celebrities, "the statement said.

He urged the FDA to remain resolute and enforce the laws to protect present and future generations from the devastating effects of smoking and tobacco smoke, adding that there were enough grounds to ban the chicha in Ghana because it had no known benefits but a destruction of humanity and an increase in noncommunicable diseases. "Others, like Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda, have banned shisha, too," the statement said.