South African Parliament begins deliberations on Tobacco Bill

The South African Parliament begins deliberations on the Tobacco Products Control Amendment Bill following last month’s public hearings.

According to a statement by the National Council against Smoking, the National Assembly’s Health Committee begins deliberations today on the Tobacco Products Control Amendment Bill- a Bill which strengthens the law on smoking in public places and regulates the manufacture of tobacco products so as to make cigarettes less likely to start fires, less appealing to children and less addictive.

The Bill will help further reduce pollution from tobacco smoke by restricting smoking in certain outdoor areas. Smoking will be moved away from entrances to public buildings and smoking will be restricted in sports stadia, railway platforms, etc. The fine for restaurants, pubs, bars and workplaces that allow smoking will be increased from R200 to R50 000 (maximum). The fine for an individual who smokes in a public place will be a maximum of R500.

The public health community called for the Bill to go even further by banning smoking in cars when children are present and to protect domestic workers from exposure to tobacco smoke at work. This is not included in the current Bill but is on the table for consideration.

The Tobacco Products Control Amendment Bill is supported by the all the major public health organizations in South Africa including the Cancer Association, Heart and Stroke Foundation, Medical Research Council, and Medical Association of South Africa.

Comments

[Sam Kiriaghe]

These are good developments Jackie! Let us hope that once the Bill is passed into law, the stipulated measures shall be effective. Who knows, other countries may have lessons to learn from the measures adopted by the South African governments in this regard, once successful.

Keep up the good work!