By Kemo Cham
Sierra Leone is losing a whooping Le403.9 billion annually due to the effect of tobacco consumption, a new report has revealed.
The report released on Thursday also noted a staggering number of lives lost - 3, 300 - annually due to tobacco related illnesses. Some 900 of these deaths are said to be linked to second hand smoking, according to the report which also said the poor segment of the population suffer the brunt of this menace.
The ‘Sierra Leone Tobacco Investment Case,’ a joint publication by UN agencies, the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS) and other partners, catalogues the economic and human cost of tobacco consumption on the country and makes a case for a robust tobacco control policy in line with the United Nations Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (UNFCTC).
The FCTC is the UN’s response to the global tobacco epidemic. It seeks to promote public health by providing legal dimensions for international health cooperation against the effects of tobacco use. FCTC is an evidence-based treaty that reaffirms the right of all people to the highest standard of health.
Tobacco contains the addictive stimulant Nicotine, and its smoke contains thousands of toxic chemicals harmful to the body.
Tobacco use accounts for a huge part of the global infection of Non-Communicable Diseases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) which estimates that eight million people die of tobacco related illnesses annually across the world. The UN health agency also says the leading causes of these deaths include cancers, heart attacks, stroke and various lung diseases, all of which result from the harmful chemicals contained in tobacco.
The Sierra Leone Tobacco Investment Case measured the impacts of tobacco use on the basis of healthcare expenditures and productivity. It found that the country is losing an estimated Le108.4 billion due to health expenditures and Le295.5 billion in productive capacities due to premature mortality, disability, and workplace smoking.
According to the report, the productivity losses from current tobacco use in Sierra Leone — 73 percent of all tobacco-related costs — indicate that tobacco use impedes development in the country far beyond health impacts.
The authors of the report call for a multi-sectoral engagement for effective tobacco control, noting that businesses and other sectors benefit substantially from supporting tobacco control investments.
The FCTC is the first international treaty negotiated under the auspices of WHO and adopted by the World Health Assembly on 21 May 2003. It entered into force on 27 February 2005 and has since become one of the most rapidly and widely embraced treaties of the United Nations.
Sierra Leone is one of over 180 countries that have signed and ratified the treaty, yet it lags far behind in terms of its implementation. Since accenting to the treaty in 2009, Sierra Leone has not even had a law on tobacco use.
This report also provides an alternative scenario in which nearly 20, 000 lives can be saved and Le1.9 trillion in economic losses avoided over the next 15 years if Sierra Leone implements stronger tobacco control measures based on six FCTC interventions.
The top three of these recommendations include increasing tobacco taxes, establishing an effective tobacco control law, and banning of advertisement of tobacco products.
Globally, smoking causes approximately 30 to 40 percent of deaths among the middle age population, ranging from 35 to 69 years of age. And this figure, say experts, is expected to rise by 2030 as Tobacco use spreads, particularly in developing countries like Sierra Leone.
This, said Andrew Black, Team Lead, Development Assistance, WHO FCTC Secretariat, calls for an accelerated action against the growing trend of tobacco consumption in the country.
Mr Black, who is currently heading a team of FCTC experts from Geneva, added that of more concern is the effect of tobacco on children.
“Tobacco is very attractive to young people and unless measures are taken it will get serious,” he told Politico in an interview.
According to the Global Youth Tobacco Survey of 2008, the most recent report available on the rate of tobacco consumption, 23.3 percent of youths in Sierra Leone are smokers. That report found out that smoking is popular among girls too.
This, said Dr Thoma T. Samba, Deputy Chief Medical Officer at the Ministry of Health, calls for collective effort to address the growing trend of tobacco use in the country.
It “means that our cultural heritage is breaking down and society needs to move very fast to stop this ugly trend,” Dr Samba said at the launch of the report on Thursday.
“Even though smoking is endemic in our society with its associated hazards, one must feel encouraged that the world is waking up to the challenge, and at MoHS level, we are prepared for the battle against this menace,” he said.
The Health Ministry says it is already working on some of the recommendations contained in the report, notably the formulation of the first ever legislation on tobacco sales, advertisement and consumption. Offificials say there is also in place a National Tobacco Committee which brings together stakeholders from the Ministry, WHO and civil society to oversee the implementation of the FCTC requirements.
“The tobacco industry executives try to convince us that tobacco is good for the economy, but today we have discovered the truth, that in Sierra Leone tobacco is actually draining the economy,” said Samuel Doe, UNDP Country Representative.
The UNDP championed the production of the report, in collaboration with WHO and RTI International, the US based nonprofit research outfit.
According to Mr Doe, for the UN development agency, this is important considering the human cost of tobacco and its effect on countries’ chance of attaining the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
“Tobacco deepens poverty, slows economic growth and even compounds environmental damage,” he said at the launch of the report at the Goldene Tulip Hotel in Freetown.
“Rarely are we compelled to such reality to act…,” Mr Doe added, stressing the need for the government to take a holistic approach in the anti-tobacco campaign rather than leaving it all to the Ministry of Health.
© 2019 Politico Online
