Tobacco Control Goes on Air

Tobacco control campaign has entered a new phase in Nigeria with the weekly broadcast of Tobacco and You, a 15-minutes magazine programme designed to educate Nigerian about the dangers of tobacco use as well as mobilize support for effective implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) by the Nigerian government.

The magazine programme being sponsored by Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth, Nigeria, (ERA/FoEN) in collaboration with the Nigerian Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA) comes on air at 12.15 every Tuesday simultaneously on Metro FM 97.6 ( Lagos operations), Kapital FM 92.7 (Abuja national station), and Pyramid FM 193.5 (Kano).

In a statement issued in Lagos yesterday, ERA/FoEN Programme Manager, Mr. Akinbode Oluwafemi said the radio campaign is one among several strategies by anti-tobacco activists aimed at reversing the ignorance of Nigerians who have long been misinformed by the tobacco multinationals through deceptive advertisements and other subtle antics targeted at promoting smoking.

"The tobacco companies have always portrayed smoking as a sophisticated thing to do. They have used the media to misinform the people, they have also used everything within their means to frustrate efforts by government to reduce smoking

Through this initiative we will be educating Nigerians about the dangers of tobacco consumption. We will also through this medium target policy makers so that we can fast track tobacco control legislations in the country," he said.

Oluwafemi insisted that the alarming rate of tobacco-induced deaths, if unchecked, would also cripple the economy, underpinning this to the huge resources that would go into managing the health of tobacco-related fatalities.

Tobacco and You will feature in depth reports, interviews with medical experts, former smokers, government officials and NGOs, among others in the forefront of tobacco control campaigns . It will also highlight policy initiatives aimed at reducing tobacco consumption internationally and in the country.

The programme which is being hosted by Betty Abah, a former senior writer with TELL Magazine, enjoys technical support from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, United States .

Apart from the broadcasts on the radio stations, Tobacco and You is currently available on the internet at www.radionigeriaonline.com, and very soon at www.ntcang.org. Besides, a listeners' feedback email, and a toll free line 08031230222 provide platforms for listeners to be part of the programme and to ask questions.

Philip Jakpor

Media Officer,

08037256939

Comments

[adeyemi.ajide.taiye]

I will like to get live broadcast about tobacco and you