Media Campaign Launched to Halt Use of Tobacco in Gambia

Source from:  The Daily Observer  02/24/2014

A media campaign was launched Wednesday by the Health and Social Welfare minister, designed to discourage and halt the use of tobacco in The Gambia.

The initiative dubbed "National Mass Media Campaign on Tobacco Control" formed part of efforts by the government through the Health Ministry and other relevant partners to make The Gambia a "smoke free nation". The initiative that also aims to caution people on the dangers of smoking is spearheaded by the Non-Communicable Disease Control of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and the World Lung Foundation.

The Campaign will spread warnings such as "Cigarettes are eating You Alive, "Coughing Child" amongst others, which will be on radio and in billboards in all the regions of the country for eight weeks.

In his launching statement, Minister Omar Sey said his Ministry is of the strong conviction that effective tobacco control is a challenge that is beyond a single ministry, organisation or institution. He hastened to disclose that globally, tobacco epidemic kills nearly six million people each year, of which more than 600,000 are non-smokers dying from breathing second hand smoke.

The minister cautioned that unless the stakeholders and everyone act, the epidemic would kill more than eight million people every year by 2030. He lamented that more than 80% of these preventable deaths would include people living in low and middle-income countries.

"The risk associated with cigarette smoking and the use of tobacco in general is a worrying situation for The Gambia as it is shown to be responsible for 5% of all deaths due to non-communicable diseases in population aged 30 and above," he indicated.

The minister further indicated that an average adult Gambian male between 25-64 years smokes about 10 sticks of cigarettes per day, something he said is "a great concern" for his Ministry. He stressed that every Gambian has the responsibility to implement "A Smoke Free Gambia".

He continued: "According to statistics, tobacco use particularly cigarette smoking is on the increase among both adolescent and adult population in The Gambia, The recent research suggests that smoking prevalence in the adolescent population aged 13 to 15years is estimated at 24.5%."

Whilst the social and external environments in The Gambia have a great influence on tobacco use, the Health minister opined, 50% of adolescents are exposed to smoking in public places and about 51% are exposed to environmental tobacco smoke, which is hazardous to children.

He thanked the World Lung Foundation and the Solar Company for their laudable efforts in developing the campaign Materials. The minister equally hailed the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Directorate of Health Promotion of the Ministry of Health for their support towards the fight against tobacco control in the country.

The World Health Organisation representative in The Gambia, Dr. Charles Sagoe Moses, described the role of the mass media as critical in the campaign against tobacco control in the country. The focus of the media, he opined, is to advance the health and not the economic argument.

A communications consultant at the World Lung Foundation, Sola Odeja, pointed out that The Gambia has made significant gains in the area of tobacco control. He however stressed the need for the media to always advocate for tobacco control and prevention in the country.

The director of Health Promotion and Education, Momodou Njai; and Programme manager at the Non-Communicable Diseases Unit of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Omar Badjie, all underscored the significance of the campaign to the goal of making The Gambia a "tobacco free nation". Enditem