#National Tobacco Control (NTC) Act

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FG to increase tax on tobacco products to 50%

The Federal Government says it will increase excise tax on tobacco products from 30 per cent ad-valorem to 50 per cent as part of measures to control tobacco smoking in the country. Head, Tobacco Control Unit, Noncommunicable Disease Division, Federal Ministry of Health, Dr Mangai Malau, disclosed this on Tuesday at the National Tobacco Control Budget Advocates Meeting in Abuja. Malau presented a paper titled “Overview of Tobacco Control Funding/Budgeting in Nigeria: Why Tobacco Control Budgeting and Funding? He said that presently, the Federal Government imposed a 30 per cent tax on tobacco products but its target was to increase to 50 per cent in order to meet the World Health Organization standard. According to him, funding for tobacco control must come majorly from taxation and there is also a need for relevant stakeholders to apply tax measures rightly if they are to address the issues of tobacco control in the country. “In effectively controlling tobacco and tobacco products in Nigeria, funding is a critical component. The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control recognises this and clearly stipulates in Article 26. “It states that parties shall provide financial support in respect of its national activities intended to achieve the objective of the Convention, in accordance with its national plans, priorities and programmes. “It is also important to state that funding is a major provision of the National Tobacco Control Act. “Section eight of the Act, provides for the Tobacco Control Fund, which shall be used to fund tobacco control activities programmes and projects,” Malau said. According to him, this meeting is therefore important as it will seek for better funding for tobacco control, in order for Nigeria to meet the objectives of the WHO FCTC and the NTC Act. He said, “Tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke is a leading cause of mortality, morbidity, disability and impoverishment in the world. “It is the greatest risk factor for non-communicable diseases like hypertension, stroke, cancers, diabetes and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases. According to him, WHO said: “tobacco causes more than eight million deaths annually around the world, with more than seven million of those deaths as a result of direct tobacco use. “And about 1.2 million resulting from non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke. He said that tobacco smoke contained over 7,000 chemicals, of which hundreds were toxic and about 70 are known to cause cancer. “Also, there is no safe level of exposure to tobacco smoke and even a brief exposure can be harmful to one’s health. “Concerned about the threat from tobacco, Nigeria signed and ratified the WHO FCTC, in 2004 and 2005 respectively. In 2015, the National Tobacco Control Act was enacted and its Regulations was passed in 2019,” he said. In his remarks, the Chairman of Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA), Mr Akinbode Oluwafemi, stressed the need for Civil Society Organisations to advocate for more budgetary allocation for tobacco control in the country. Oluwafemi urged CSOs to begin the budgetary advocacy in July when the government’s ministries, departments and agencies would commence the 2024 budgets presentation and defence. According to him, it is also important that CSOs form alliances while carrying out the advocacy. Read the full article

[premimtimes]

Groups seek enforcement of smoking ban in movies

Groups seek enforcement of smoking ban in movies

Participants at a summit on Smoking in Movies (#Smokefreenollywood) held in Lagos have called for the immediate commencement of enforcement of the ban on Tobacco Advertising Promotion and Sponsorships as contained in the National Tobacco Control (NTC) Act 2015 and the NTC Regulations 2019. They also urged for the set up of a working group of practitioners working collaboratively with the…

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‘Urgent action on tobacco laws key to saving lives’

‘Urgent action on tobacco laws key to saving lives��

Tobacco

As the global community marks the World Heart Day (WHD) 2020, the Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), yesterday, stressed the need for the Federal Government to be cautious of tobacco industry antics and enforce the National Tobacco Control (NTC) Act 2015 and National Tobacco Control Regulations 2019.

CAPPA canvassed the establishment of a Tobacco Control…

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Tobacco Control Act: Health Ministry March on Abuja to Sensitize Public

Tobacco Control Act: Health Ministry March on Abuja to Sensitize Public

The Federal Ministry of Health and civil society organisations have carried out a public sensitisation on Abuja streets and the popular Wuse Market with a message that violators of the National Tobacco Control, NTC, Act will face fines or jail terms. The march which held on June 3, was organised by the ministry in conjunction with the Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance, NTCA, as part of activities…

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ERA says 3.5m Nigerians smoke daily | The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News

ERA says 3.5m Nigerians smoke daily | The Guardian Nigeria News – Nigeria and World News

Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has disclosed that no fewer than 3.5 million Nigerians consume tobacco products daily.

The group, which mobilised hundreds of youths for a peaceful march in Abuja yesterday to push for the passage of the National Tobacco Control (NTC) Act, disclosed that the smokers include over 25,000 children within the ages of 10 and 14…

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CPC begins enforcement of Tobacco Act - Daily Trust

CPC begins enforcement of Tobacco Act  Daily Trust

The Consumer Protection Council (CPC) has begun enforcing the National Tobacco Control (NTC) Act provisions banning sale of cigarettes in single sticks and ...

from "tobacco" - Google News http://bit.ly/2G8Cw9k

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NTC ACT AND THE TOBACCO LOBBY

NTC ACT AND THE TOBACCO LOBBY

It’s time to implement the tobacco control act

A recent alarm that tobacco companies were working to derail the implementation of the National Tobacco Control, (NTC) Act, signed into law in 2015 by former President Goodluck Jonathan, should worry critical stakeholders in the country. According to Akinbode Oluwafemi, who spoke on behalf of a coalition of Civil Society Organisations, the…

[premimtimes]

Civil society and public health groups under the aegis of the Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA) have opposed the “Draft Policy on Conventional Tobacco and Non-Combusted Alternatives to Cigarette Smoking” advanced by the tobacco industry, urging the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment to jettison the proposal and the spurious narratives that are used to justify it.

Public health groups learnt that the tobacco industry proposal which is being considered by the Ministry seeks to develop a regulatory framework to encourage smokers to switch from conventional or combustible cigarettes to Heated Tobacco Products (HTPs).

The NTCA, in a letter to the Honourable Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Niyi Adebayo, dated July 28, stated that the draft policy is misleading, contravenes the National Tobacco Control (NTC) Act, 2015; its Regulations of 2019, and the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC) which Nigeria ratified in 2005.

In the letter titled ‘Attempts by the tobacco industry to create a constitutional crisis in Nigeria and the attendant public health concerns,’ signed by NTCA Board Chair, Akinbode Oluwafemi, the group referenced Section 1(m) of the NTC Act which states that Nigeria’s obligation under Article 5.3 of the WHO FCTC includes ensuring that tobacco control policies are implemented over and above any contrary interest of the commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry on account of the inherent and irreconcilable conflict of interest between the goals of public health policies for tobacco control and the commercial interests of the tobacco industry.

Copies of the letter were sent to the president, vice-president, senate president, speaker of the House of Representatives, secretary to the government, Attorney-General of the Federation as well as the Minister of Health.

The group insisted that the misleading claims by the tobacco industry on e-cigarettes and other so-called alternatives have been debunked by the WHO, which has repeatedly said that e-cigarettes and HTPs are “undoubtedly harmful” and that countries “that have not banned [e-cigarettes] should consider regulating them as harmful products.”

Countries that have banned e-cigarettes are Argentina, Brazil, Brunei, Cambodia, Ethiopia, The Gambia, India, Iran, Lebanon, Macau, Mauritius, Mexico, Oman, Panama, Qatar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Syria, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Uganda, and Uruguay. The HTPs have also been banned in Australia, Brunei, Brazil, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Finland, India, Malta, Mexico, Panama, Qatar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkey, and Uganda.

The NTCA urged the minister to note that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had denied Philip Morris’ claim that switching from combustible cigarettes to the company’s HTP brand, IQOS, will reduce the risk of disease and stated: “[Philip Morris] has not demonstrated that as actually used by consumers, the products sold or distributed with the proposed modified risk information will significantly reduce harm and the risk of tobacco‐related disease…”.

Minister of Trade and Investment, Adeniyi Adebayo[PHOTO CREDIT : Minister of Trade and Investment, Adeniyi Adebayo]

Importantly, the group, continued, the FDA did not find either that IQOS is “safe” or even “safer” than other tobacco products or that IQOS can help smokers quit and banned Philip Morris from making claims in the U.S. that switching completely from conventional cigarettes to the IQOS system can reduce the risks of tobacco‐related diseases”; and switching completely to IQOS presents less risk of harm than continuing to smoke cigarettes.”

According to the letter, “Given the significant scientific uncertainty about the overall risks and potential benefits of e-cigarette use in adults (and its known harms to the youth) and the evidence to date of the harmful effects of HTPs, every novel tobacco product including HTPs and ENDS should be banned in Nigeria while every new product should be subjected to thorough scrutiny by the Federal Ministry of Health and other relevant regulatory agencies in the country”.

READ ALSO: Raise tax on tobacco, advocates urge Nigerian government

The NTCA reminded the minister that Nigeria is currently burdened with cardiovascular diseases which have led to the loss of manpower and the attendant burden on public healthcare facilities.

It cited the Tobacco Atlas, which recently documented that about 16,100 Nigerians die yearly from tobacco-related causes and empirical studies which show that the nation loses about $800 million annually including direct costs related to healthcare expenditures and indirect costs related to lost productivity due to early mortality and morbidity caused by tobacco use.

The group urged the minister to disallow any entity from misleading the ministry through spurious narratives of employment generation, exports potential, revenue for the government and other “empty promises.”

Reject Tobacco Industry-sponsored draft policy on cigarettes’ alternatives, Groups urge Minister of Industry Civil society and public health groups under the aegis of the Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA) have opposed the “Draft Policy on Conventional Tobacco and Non-Combusted Alternatives to Cigarette Smoking” advanced by the tobacco industry, urging the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment to jettison the proposal and the spurious narratives that are used to justify it.

[premimtimes]

Groups hail Nigerian govt's gazette of tobacco control regulations

Groups hail Nigerian govt’s gazette of tobacco control regulations

Tobacco control advocacy groups, the Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA) and the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) have hailed the Federal Government for the gazette of the National Tobacco Control (NTC) Regulations 2019.

In a statement Wednesday, the groups said although it took long in coming, the move is a “right step in the right direction.”

“This…

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Group uses 'rap challenge' for awareness on Nigeria's tobacco control law

Group uses ‘rap challenge’ for awareness on Nigeria’s tobacco control law

Less than a week of the opening of the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) Tobacco Control Rap Challenge, more than 50 entries have been recorded.

The competition creates awareness on enforcement of the National Tobacco Control (NTC) Act 2015 and Tobacco Regulations to the youths through a music competition tagged #TCRapChallenge and #EnforceTCRegNow.

Provisions…

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CPC begins enforcement of Tobacco Act - Daily Trust

CPC begins enforcement of Tobacco Act  Daily Trust

The Consumer Protection Council (CPC) has begun enforcing the National Tobacco Control (NTC) Act provisions banning sale of cigarettes in single sticks and ...

from "tobacco" - Google News http://bit.ly/2SjU9ZJ