Tobacco use is high among young people – Study finds

General News on Tuesday, June 4th, 2019

Source: GNA

2019-06-04

A study by Tobacco Atlas Ghana found that about 425,200 men, 69,200 women and 2,700 boys smoked cigarettes each day, while about 75 men die each week while smoking tobacco.

Although smoking rates have dropped from 27% in 2000 to 20% in 2016, youth aged 13 to 15 have been exposed to tobacco, a situation that makes tobacco a threat to public health.

Ms. Mimi Darko, Executive Director of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) said the following at the launch of this year's World No Tobacco Day celebration in Accra on Monday.

She added that the Ghana Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS), however, indicated that 39.3% of public and private high school students were exposed to tobacco smoke and 71.3% JHS students under the age of 18 had access to tobacco.

"The survey also showed that the prevalence of use of shisha was higher among girls than among boys, because of the misconception that shisha was a safer alternative" , she said.

In a speech read on his behalf, Kwaku Agyemang Manu, Minister of Health, said the country and its families must bear a huge economic burden by losing both human and financial resources that could have been invested.

He called on individuals, governments and organizations to help stop smoking and make the world a better place for future generations.

Dr. Owen Kaluwa, a representative of the World Health Organization in Ghana, said that tobacco smoke was dangerous because it contained about 69 chemicals known to cause cancer.

In 2018 alone, more than 39,000 new cases of lung cancer were diagnosed in Africa and nearly 38,000 deaths occurred.

As a result, approximately 16500 children worldwide die before the age of five from exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke that has caused pneumonia, bronchitis, and lower respiratory tract infections.

He congratulated Ghana on the implementation of the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and the Ratification of the Protocol on Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products.

He urged the government to adopt and implement tobacco control policies aimed at reducing demand for tobacco and promoting smoking cessation.

World No Tobacco Day is celebrated every year to raise awareness of the dangers of tobacco and exposure to tobacco smoke.

This year's theme, Tobacco and Lung Health, focuses on the negative effects of tobacco on the lungs and what could be done to reduce the risks to lung health related to tobacco.