Namibia: Tobacco Use A Grave Concern

Source from:  Informante 02/07/2013

Out of 6 000 billion cigarettes sold annually, approximately 600 billion of those are smuggled.
 
Ericah Shafudah, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Finance says the smuggling of cigarettes does not only undermine government revenue but also threatens legitimate business and undermines law and order by encouraging the formation of organized criminal syndicates which use illicit funds to finance other serious criminal activities such as terrorism, organized crime, drugs, fire arms and people smuggling.
 
Shafudah was speaking at the signing of the MoU between the Tobacco Institute of Southern Africa (TISA) and Ministry of Finance last Friday.
 
The Chief Executive Officer of the Tobacco Institute of Southern Southern Africa, Francois van der Merwe said 350 million cigarettes are smoked annually in Namibia and that 12% of those are contraband.
 
Van der Merwe says most cigarettes that are smuggled into Namibia mostly come from Angola, Zimbabwen and China. "Chinese contraband cigarettes illegally smuggled into Namibia are Yes, Director and Mega, which have proved to be popular amongst Namibians," he said.
 
"Namibia is being abused. People must stop making use of Namibia to sell illegal products."We are trying our best to get these cigarettes out of the country, but when we found them to destroy some people find a way to get them out on the streets again."
 
Speaking at the official opening of the regional consultation on tobacco and trade, the Minister of Health and Social Services, Richard Kamwi, highlighted the dangers of smoking, which he attributed as the main cause of cancer in smokers.
 
Kamwi said that the use of tobacco has increased In Namibia. A study on alcohol and drug use and abuse in 2002, documented the prevalence of smoking to be 22.8% amongst males and 21.9% amongst females 18 years and above.
 
"In another school-based study conducted in 2004, it was established that 17.8% male and 13.4%female students had smoked for one or more days during the week preceding the survey amongst the age group 10 to 18 years," Kamwi added.
 
Kamwi said that tobacco has a great effect on the health of people. "Let me assure you that we will continue our efforts for a tobacco-free generation" Kamwi reiterated. Enditem