Global efforts at clamping down on tobacco smoke will become reality for Namibians in July.
Minister of Health and Social Services Richard Kamwi yesterday announced that the long-pending Tobacco Products Control Act of 2010 will come into effect on April 1, with a ban on public smoking to follow on July 1. Kamwi was speaking at the start of a two-day meeting with other line ministries, law enforcement agents, the hospitality industry and other businesses that will be affected.
Bewailing the long process it took to implement the new law, Kamwi yesterday blamed the international tobacco industry for deliberate attempts at stalling.
“The tobacco industry is using international trade and investment instruments as a justification to increase the sale and use of tobacco products,” Kamwi told those in attendance on day one of the deliberations.
“In many countries, the perception of the health and trade sector ministries is largely confined to their respective mandates. This has left a gap for the tobacco industry to interfere in the implementation of solid regulatory measures,” Kamwi said.
Among other conditions, the new tobacco legislation prohibits smoking in all public places, obliges the display of warning signs at all points of tobacco sale, calls for restricted availability of tobacco to persons under 18 years old, and compels the display of ‘prohibition to smoke’ signs at all public places.
Owners of public establishments will be required to implement a number of specific oversight duties at their places of business.
Urging participants at yesterday’s meeting to make sure no more time is wasted in getting the Act implemented, Kamwi cited a number of damning statistics – including that 10% of the estimated six million people who die of tobacco use annually are non-smokers exposed to second-hand smoke.
“The World Bank has confirmed repeatedly that the economic impact of disability, lost productivity and early deaths due to tobacco contributes to the burden of poverty, retards national development and further widens health and income inequality. Thus, tobacco control is not only a public health priority but a key development issue,” Kamwi said.
Areas where smoking will be banned include shopping malls, sport fields, schools, workplaces, restaurants, airport lounges and public transport.
The new legislation follows the new international trend which forces manufacturers to prominently feature on cigarette packaging one of 12 unappealing pictures illustrating the dangers of tobacco smoking, including pictures of diseased lungs, hearts, teeth and foetuses. Packaging may no longer bear any wording such as ‘mild’, ‘low tar’, or ‘light’, or “any other word, term or sign that directly or indirectly creates an impression that a particular tobacco product or brand is less harmful than others”.
Minister of Health and Social Services Richard Kamwi yesterday announced that the long-pending Tobacco Products Control Act of 2010 will come into effect on April 1, with a ban on public smoking to follow on July 1. Kamwi was speaking at the start of a two-day meeting with other line ministries, law enforcement agents, the hospitality industry and other businesses that will be affected.
Bewailing the long process it took to implement the new law, Kamwi yesterday blamed the international tobacco industry for deliberate attempts at stalling.
“The tobacco industry is using international trade and investment instruments as a justification to increase the sale and use of tobacco products,” Kamwi told those in attendance on day one of the deliberations.
“In many countries, the perception of the health and trade sector ministries is largely confined to their respective mandates. This has left a gap for the tobacco industry to interfere in the implementation of solid regulatory measures,” Kamwi said.
Among other conditions, the new tobacco legislation prohibits smoking in all public places, obliges the display of warning signs at all points of tobacco sale, calls for restricted availability of tobacco to persons under 18 years old, and compels the display of ‘prohibition to smoke’ signs at all public places.
Owners of public establishments will be required to implement a number of specific oversight duties at their places of business.
Urging participants at yesterday’s meeting to make sure no more time is wasted in getting the Act implemented, Kamwi cited a number of damning statistics – including that 10% of the estimated six million people who die of tobacco use annually are non-smokers exposed to second-hand smoke.
“The World Bank has confirmed repeatedly that the economic impact of disability, lost productivity and early deaths due to tobacco contributes to the burden of poverty, retards national development and further widens health and income inequality. Thus, tobacco control is not only a public health priority but a key development issue,” Kamwi said.
Areas where smoking will be banned include shopping malls, sport fields, schools, workplaces, restaurants, airport lounges and public transport.
The new legislation follows the new international trend which forces manufacturers to prominently feature on cigarette packaging one of 12 unappealing pictures illustrating the dangers of tobacco smoking, including pictures of diseased lungs, hearts, teeth and foetuses. Packaging may no longer bear any wording such as ‘mild’, ‘low tar’, or ‘light’, or “any other word, term or sign that directly or indirectly creates an impression that a particular tobacco product or brand is less harmful than others”.
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