This post was first published by Kondwani Munthali on Tobacco Free Malawi.
Malawian youngsters are ranked number three among 12 African countries currently implementing a tobacco smoking control African situational analysis (ATSA) programme, figures from World Health Organisation revealed this week.
Teenage smoking
has been on the increase in Africa and Asia and a recent World Bank
report indicated that smoking grew by 38.4 percent on the continent
while it has been on decline in the developed countries.
“Zambia
leads in the 12 ATSA countries with 25.6 followed by South Africa 23.6
and Malawi at 18.4 percent in teenage smoking for both sexes. Out of
this figure of the 13 to 15 years old, girls make up at least 17
percent and 19 percent,” says a report on World Health Organisation
Stastical Information system over a survey between 2005 and 2007.
The
data reveals that more young females are starting to smoke as a casual
and socially acceptable norm though they risk several reproductive
health disorders including cervical cancer, reduced fertility, still
birth and heart diseases.
Government has refused to sign the WHO
Framework Convention on Tobacco Control which seeks to check smoking
especially in public citing its economic reliance on the crop as the
main reason.
“15 percent of the adult population in Malawi
smokes out of these above the age of 15 only 6 percent are females
while 23 percent are females,” reads the data. Cameroon tops up in
adult smoking where Malawi is number five among the 12 countries.
Mauritius
tops with the number of male adult smoking with Malawi at six and
Nigeria which has Africa’s highest population has lies at number 11.
Tanzania has the lowest adolescent smokers at 6 percent.
Malawi
is expected to launch the ATSA programme targeting secondary schools to
control smoking among young people in January under an International
Development Research Centre (IDRC) grant to Centre for Agricultural
Research and Development (CARD) of Bunda College, Youth Alliance in
Social and Economic Development (YASED), Ministry of Health and the
National Youth Council of Malawi.
Team Leader of the project
Deusdedit Kafere said in an interview that the pilot project to be
implemented in Kasungu, Mangochi and Lilongwe is aimed at sensitising
the youth on dangers of smoking and create smoke-free public places to
ensure safety of non-smokers.
“The idea is not to stop
production of tobacco, but to tell the youngsters about the risks of
smoking. The dangers it poses to the health of non-smokers and ensure
that people have the right information before the start smoking,” said
Kafere.
On arguments by Government on not signing the FCTC, the
Malawi ATSA team said the country was loosing out to an opportunity to
diversify its economy after depending on tobacco for years at the same
time putting most mothers and children at risk by not regulating
smoking in public places.
“Malawi does not produce cigarettes
which are the main focus of the project. The argument of putting 85
percent of Malawians at risk to make up our economy does not sound
developmental,” reads the statement.
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