The Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA) on Thursday in Abuja called on law enforcement agencies to enforce tobacco control laws to save the lives of Nigerians.
Mr Akinbode Oluwafemi, Chairman, NTCA, made the call at a press briefing on “Stop Tobacco Industry Interference, enforce graphic health warning now.
The chairman, represented by Mr Nwokorie Chibuike, Programme Manager, NTCA, stated that forecasts confirm that graphic health warnings on tobacco packets are successful in reducing tobacco use and saving lives.
“We called on all agencies tasked with the enforcement of tobacco control laws to save Nigerians by beginning the enforcement of the graphic health warnings policy without delay on all tobacco products.
“We wish to strongly remind those agencies that the offices they hold are based on public trust and must be used in the health interest of all Nigerians.
“Another significant obstacle to tobacco control in Nigeria is the tobacco industry’s interference in policy-making processes,” Oluwafemi said.
He continued: “To monitor compliance with this critical policy, as recently as this week, we activated Alliance members in the Federal Capital Territory, also, in Ebonyi, Akwa Ibom, Nasarawa, Kano, Adamawa, and Oyo states, to carry out market surveys to determine the level of compliance within their states.
“The survey results show that while some cigarette packs bear the new sets of warnings, some still carry the outdated pictorial warning, and worse still, a sizeable number of packs bear the very old ‘text-only’ warnings”.
He added that there was little compliance with tobacco products such as shisha, cigars, snuff, and cigarillos.
NAN
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