As Isana Center for Information and Substance Abuse Treatment (ICISAT) Joins Nigeria to celebrate the “WORLD NO TOBACCO DAY”, 31st MAY, 2020.
ICISAT Executive Director Sensitizes the Youth on tobacco use.
THE FACTS – STATISTICS
WORLD:
• 200 markets globally, over 100,000 tobacco farms.
• Leading cause of preventable deaths in the world
• Over 8 million deaths/year, i.e 7 million die from direct smoke and 1.2 million die from second hand smoke by non smokers
NIGERIA:
• 4.1 million men who smoke, 500,000 women who smoke
• 6.4 million Adults are exposed to tobacco smoke
• Over 20 billion cigarette sticks smoked by about 4.5 million adults (W.H.O. 2019). • Nigeria had the 4th highest number of deaths from second hand smoke in 2016.
THE FACTS – DANGERS
Over 7000 Chemicals in cigarette smoke and 70 of these cause cancers.
Most smokers start by age of 18 and almost all start smoking before age 26 years.
On a daily basis 3200 children or teens below 18 years smoke their first cigarette & 2100 Young Adults turn daily smokers Kills more people than alcohol, AIDs, car accidents, illegal drugs, murders and suicides combined.
Life expectancy of a smoker is 10 years less than that of a non-smoker.
Tens of billions of dollars is used to promote tobacco while it kills up to half of its users.
The Golf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries members: (Qatar, UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman); Russia and Nigeria contributed to the 10% revenue in 2016 from 3,408 (2015) million to 3750 (2016) million pounds.
TACTICS OF TOBACCO INDUSTRIES IN AFRICA.
Targeting race = brand name “black diamonds” black middle class.
Targeting gender/age – defines young adults, young adult smokers, and adult smokers less than 30 years.
Targeting women – By branding “light versions” of some cigarettes.
Selling cheaper and highly addictive Cigarettes (high in tar and nicotine) to African Countries due to the lack of regulatory laws.
TACTICS OF TOBACCO INDUSTRIES IN NIGERIA.
Nigerian farmers are encouraged to embrace tobacco cultivation.
(Vanguard June 2018)
N700 million grants and technical expertise to grow tobacco by British America tobacco Nigeria foundation (BATN) from 2018 to 2022 Country programme. By Kola Jamodu (chairman) of the foundation.
February 2018 – target school children by adverts within 100 meters of most schools. Oluremi Tinubu – senator
There was the ban on online sales of tobacco in 2017 by Nigerian Government, but in 2018 • there were 1,328 Cigarettes related item on konga
• there were 6,055 Cigarettes related items on jumia
• Difficult to enforce underage purchase online
• Adverts in Nigeria on cigarettes are done through the following:- Display of tobacco products -Physical structure like umbrellas – Posters -Stickers -Free gifts -Billboards.
Covid-19 and tobacco use –
80% of tobacco is used in cigarette, use of saliva to roll and share cigarettes may not allow for social distancing while encouraging the spread of the virus. The case of South Africa.
BENEFITS OF GIVING UP TOBACCO/ CIGERETTE SMOKING.
• Heart rate and blood pressure drops within 20 minutes of giving up smoking
• Carbon monoxide levels drops to normal within 12 hours of giving up smoking
• Blood circulation improves and lungs function increases within 2 to 12 weeks of giving up smoking
• Coughing and shortness of breath decreases between 1 to 9 months of giving up smoking
• Risk of stroke reduces to that of non-smokers from 5 to 15 years of giving up smoking
• Risk of lung cancer reduces to about half that of a smoker after 10 years of giving up smoking
• Risk of coronary heart decrease decreases to that of a non-smoker after 15 years.
AS ICISAT JOINS THE WOLRD IN CELEBRATING THE 2020 “WORLD NO TOBACCO DAY”, SHE IS CALLING ON ALL NIGERIANS TO REFLECT ON THE GAINS MADE SO FAR BY NIGERIA AND ENCOURAGE STACKHOLDERS TO UNITE IN THE FIGHT AGAINST THE PRODUCTION OF TOBACCO AND HELP PREVENT OR REDUCE TOBACCO USE AMONG THE YOUTH.