Kwaku, had never considered the health implications of his smoking habit. Just like many teenagers today, he was exposed to onscreen smoking imagery and was made to believe that smoking signified maturity, making it easy to join the craze.

A troubling development about Kwaku’s experience has to do with the accessibility and cost of cigarettes in Ghana. When asked how and where he got his cigarettes from, Kwaku responded, “I go to a shop near my home, and with less than a Cedi, I get to buy a stick and I am good to go.” “Of course, I pretend to be buying for an adult,” he added.

The minimum World Health Organisation (WHO) benchmark for excise tax on the retail price of cigarette is 70 percent. Ghana currently imposes an excise tax of only 13.02 percent on the retail price of cigarettes.”

Ghana has failed significantly when it comes to the excise tax on the retail price of cigarettes. The minimum World Health Organisation (WHO) benchmark for excise tax on the retail price of cigarette is 70 percent. Ghana currently imposes an excise tax of only 13.02 percent on the retail price of cigarettes which is about 56 percent below the WHO benchmark, contributing significantly to the low price of cigarettes in the country. A single cigarette stick is priced between 20 pesewas to 70 pesewas in Ghana making it very accessible to the youth.

Tobacco tax increases that result in higher tobacco-product prices are among the most effective tobacco control measures available. According to the Tobacco Atlas, a 10 percent increase in price equals up to 8 percent decrease in use among the youth. The Atlas further notes that higher prices are especially effective in reducing tobacco use in more vulnerable populations, like people with lower incomes and youth, because those groups are particularly sensitive to price increases.

Currently, over 5800 children (10-14 years old) smoke cigarettes every day in Ghana. “The number is expected to increase significantly if nothing is done as large tobacco firms turn their attention to Africa,” according to Dr. Steven V. Shongwe, the acting Director of the Non-communicable diseases (NCD) cluster at the WHO Regional Office for Africa.

This Principal Research Officer at the Ghana Health Service, Divine Darlington Logo revealed on the sidelines of the World Conference on Health or Tobacco in Cape Town that, there was no budgetary allocation in 2018 for the enforcement of the tobacco control regulations which came into effect in 2017.

“For the last five years, there has not been any money specifically allotted to tobacco control in Ghana. That has been part of the challenge in the effort to discourage teenagers from smoking. There are concerns of smuggling when it comes to increase in taxes on tobacco products,” he disclosed.

Kwaku, who began smoking at the age of 14 is now determined to quit the habit, but has no access to cessation counseling and has to rely on sheer will power to quit the deadly habit. He tells me, “It has been a struggle for me to quit for the past six months. I tried a few times but gave up eventually because the urge was too strong. Moreover, my closest friend also smokes so it makes it difficult to quit, even though I want to.”

The economic cost of smoking in Ghana amounts to 97 million cedis. Increased tobacco taxation revenues would strengthen domestic resource mobilization.”

Figures by the latest Atlas also reveals that, the economic cost of smoking in Ghana amounts to 97 million cedis in direct costs related to healthcare expenditures and indirect costs related to early mortality and morbidity.

Increased tobacco taxation revenues would strengthen domestic resource mobilization to help offset the costs to the Ghanaian economy as well as help government invest in tobacco control programs that can benefit the likes of Kwaku Addo.

Read Also: WHO calls on developing countries to hasten implementation of tobacco control conventions

Ghana can still do more to make the proven tobacco control tools work for its citizens’ well-being.

Report by Gideon Sarpong | Policy and Content Analyst | iWatch Africa

The post Teenage Smokers: How Ghana’s low excise tax on cigarette encourage the deadly habit appeared first on iWatch Africa.

“Congratulations to all of the winners for their outstanding work, which is saving lives every day,” said Michael R. Bloomberg, WHO’s Global Ambassador for Noncommunicable Diseases. “Over the last decade the global effort to fight tobacco use has come farther than almost anyone imagined possible – but we will have a long way to go, and these honorees are helping to lead the way forward.”

Each year, nearly 7 million people are killed by tobacco, more than are killed by alcohol, AIDS, car accidents, illegal drugs, murders, and suicide deaths combined. Since 2003, Michael R. Bloomberg has led the fight for tobacco control across the globe starting when he championed the Smoke Free Air Act banning smoking in bars and restaurants in New York City, inspiring many other cities to adopt similar measures. Through Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use works with organizations across the globe to implement policies in low and middle-income countries where 80% of tobacco-related deaths occur.

The six chosen honorees highlight the tangible progress to control tobacco and represent the effectiveness of the MPOWER policies, a group of effective demand-reduction tobacco control policies. One award was given in each of the MPOWER categories. MPOWER categories include: Monitoring tobacco use and prevention policies; Protecting people from tobacco smoke with smoke-free air legislation; Offering help to quit tobacco use; Warning about the dangers of tobacco with pack labels and mass media; Enforcing bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship; and Raising taxes on tobacco.

The 2018 Bloomberg Philanthropies Award winners are:

• Monitoring: Ministry of Health Vietnam has shown excellent leadership in tobacco surveillance and monitoring by conducting two rounds of adult tobacco surveys (GATS) and three rounds of youth tobacco surveys (GYTS). In addition, the country has monitored tobacco use in special populations by integrating tobacco questions in surveys focused on special populations (for example, a labor force survey).

• Protecting: Fondo Solidario para la Salud (FOSALUD) de El Salvador As a result of FOSALUD’s leadership, El Salvador passed comprehensive smoke-free legislation in 2015. FOSALUD conducted evidence gathering to support advocacy for passage of the law and activated the international community when tobacco industry interference became evident.

• Offering help to quit: Fundación Interamericana del Corazón México FIC Mexico worked closely with the Mexican government to develop a strategy to broaden the availability of evidence-based tobacco dependence treatment. They worked with 10 government institutions, along with clinical experts, to develop and implement national guidelines. Health care professionals received support by extending staffing capacity and making treatment more readily available to Mexican citizens.

• Warning: Ministry of Health Senegal The National Assembly of Senegal adopted one of the strongest tobacco control laws in Africa which includes smoke-free provisions, advertising bans, and prohibits industry interference, but the most prominent measure remains the pack warnings. The law requires that tobacco product packages must display a combination of text and picture health warnings on at least 70 percent of each principal display area. Misleading packaging and labelling, including terms such as “light” and “low tar” are prohibited.

Watch the Ministry of Health’s video here

• Uganda National Health Consumers’ Organization Uganda enacted a very strong and comprehensive tobacco control bill in 2015. While the law is very comprehensive, the tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship (TAPS) measures are particularly strong and represent best practices in that they completely ban all forms, methods, and means of domestic and cross-border TAPS. The Ugandan civil society organizations, through their well-coordinated advocacy and communications efforts, played a crucial role getting the bill enacted into law.

Watch UNCHO’s video here

• Raising tobacco taxes: Ministry of Health, Ministry of Treasury Argentina, and FIC The The Argentinian Government, under the leadership of the Ministry of Treasury and the Ministry of Health, strongly supported by the Inter-American Heart Foundation (FIC), approved a tax of 75% on national and imported cigarettes in May 2016. The three entities worked closely together to run a model campaign using a variety of strategies and sought to emphasize the link between tobacco taxes as both an economic measure as well as a public health policy to reduce tobacco consumption.

Watch Ministry of Health, Ministry of Treasury, and FIC video here

“It is because of organizations like this year’s MPOWER winners who are helping us fight and win the battle against big tobacco,” said Dr. Kelly Henning, Director of Public Health Programs at Bloomberg Philanthropies. “Their citizens and constituents will be reaping the reward of their efforts for generations to come, and we hope that by showcasing these awardees’ successes others may be inspired to follow suit and take action in their own countries.”

The Bloomberg Awards for Global Tobacco Control were first hosted in 2009 at the 14^th World Health Conference on Tobacco or Health in Mumbai and most recently in 2015 when the 16^th Conference was held in Abu Dhabi.

The award was designed by Francis Kéré, a German-trained architect from Burkina Faso. Kéré represents socially responsible architecture and is known for his focus on participation, innovative use of material and sustainability. In 2005 he founded the office Kéré Architecture in Berlin, which has been recognized nationally and internationally with awards and major commissions including the Serpentine Galleries Pavilion in London. His sculpture for the 2018 Bloomberg Philanthropies Awards for Global Tobacco Control combines wood and brass, a sustainable and a recyclable material. The organic shape of the trophy reinterprets traditional African carving techniques and is complemented by a brass ring that surrounds the log like a medal honoring the recipients’ engagement.

About the World Conference on Tobacco or Health

The 17th World Conference on Tobacco or Health (WCTOH) will be held in Cape Town, South Africa from 7-9 March 2018. It will unite researchers, academics, non-governmental organisations, civil society, scientists, healthcare professionals and public officials working on all aspects of tobacco control from more than 100 countries.

Convened by the Advisory Board for WCTOH, the Cape Town Consortium and the Conference Secretariat, The Union, the WCTOH is a call for a collective resolution to fight tobacco by working together and integrating tobacco control into our health and development goals. Held once every three years, the WCTOH is the premier, international conference on tobacco control.

The conference will meet under the theme of Uniting the World for a Tobacco-Free Generation, recognising that tobacco control is a global issue, crossing all geographic boundaries. This has been realised through the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which stands as the backdrop for the conference and for our global response as the only internationally, legally-binding health treaty of the 21st century. Only by coming together will we truly be able to be tobacco-free.

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