The Federal Government has reaffirmed its commitment to tackle tobacco use by children in Nigeria.
Minister of Youth and Social Development, Dr. Jamila Ibrahim made the pledge in Abuja on Friday when the Regional Director, Tobacco Control Programme Campaign for Tobacco–Free Kids, Ms Bintou Camara, paid her a courtesy visit.
She said tobacco smoking among children was a big challenge facing the country, noting that Nigeria needs to partner and collaborate with relevant stakeholders to educate the people to understand the health implications of tobacco smoking among young ones.
“We will focus on adolescent health. It is the area we need to be proactive in putting mechanisms in place to achieve a preventive approach to tobacco smoking among kids.
“We must work with the act that bans tobacco smoking in public places, especially to prevent second-hand smoke,” she added.
Camara, on her part, said the organisation was in the country to campaign and educate Nigerians on the danger of tobacco smoking.
“We are the leading advocacy organisations in the world that advocate against tobacco smoking. We are focusing on tobacco control. Tobacco smoking is the leading cause of preventable deaths, that is why it is important to tackle tobacco prevention,” she said.
According to her, tobacco companies target young people to safeguard their profits.
Camara said that it was important to tackle tobacco control because the world was facing an incredible enemy that may affect public health issues.
According to her, the organisation had been working for more than 25 years to educate the youths on the danger of tobacco smoking.
She said, “The organisation has fought to protect children and save lives from the cause of preventable death. Our vision is a future free of death and disease caused by tobacco because tobacco has killed enough.”
Camara noted that the tobacco industry is searching confidently to target young people in order to safeguard their profit over public health.
She said Nigeria was the most important market in Africa and probably the world with a beautiful, powerful and strong number of young people on the continent.
“The most important thing for us is to raise awareness and educate youths on the consequences of tobacco use.
“Tobacco smoking kills eight million people a year and out of that number, 1.2m die from second-hand smoke, which means you don’t have to be a smoker, you can die from it, suffer from it whether you want it or not,” she added.
Camara said that the country had passed the tobacco smoking law, saying that implementation and enforcement were most important, especially for young people.
She described tobacco as the entryway to other drugs that generate negative consequences, which include mental health, loss of productive life, loss of good health, and education among others.
(NAN)
