LAGOS -The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday advised the Federal Government to expedite action in ratifying the United Nations Protocol to eliminate illicit trade in tobacco products.
The Coordinator of WHO in Lagos, Dr Sunday Abidoye, made the call in Lagos at an event organised by the UN Information Centre (UNIC), the Nigeria Heart Foundation and the UN Association of Nigeria.
The event, jointly organised to commemorate ”World No Tobacco Day”, had its theme as: “Stop Illicit Trade of Tobacco Products”.
Abidoye said that it was not enough for Nigeria to only sign the protocol.
“Recognising the enormity of illicit trade in tobacco products, the international community came together with a protocol to eliminate illicit trade in tobacco products.
“To date, only 14 countries in the African region have signed the protocol and just two have ratified it.
“We, therefore, urge the Nigerian government to urgently join other African countries that have ratified the protocol in their countries,’’ he said.
The WHO official said that Nigeria’s domestication of the protocol would protect her from financial, legal, social and health consequences associated with the illicit trade.
The UN Secretary-General, Mr Ban Ki-Moon, said in a message presented on his behalf by UNIC Administrative Assistant, Ms Adeola Adedeji, that the trade was luring younger and poorer groups into addiction.
Ban said that the illicit trade had continued to deplete the ability of states to charge taxes that would have supported health services.
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Mr Dapo Rotifa, Director of Tobacco in the Nigerian Herat Foundation, said that advantage should be taken with the former President Goodluck Jonathan’s signing into law of the Anti-Tobacco Bill.
According to him, the global tobacco epidemic kills about six million people annually out of which 600,000 are non-smokers.
A legal practitioner and Coordinator of the Coalition Against Tobacco, Mrs Olatoyosi Onaolapo, urged government to increase taxation on tobacco products to discourage children from smoking.
Onaolapo also called for urgent implementation of the ban on tobacco advertisement across the country and government’s commitment to the enforcement of the anti-tobacco law.
The event was attended by 40 students from three secondary schools in Lagos State.
The World No Tobacco Day is observed globally on May 31 every year to encourage total abstinence from all forms of tobacco use and to create awareness on the negative health effects of tobacco products. (NAN)
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