Rendez-vous 167 - May 12, 2007
Thank you Lutgard for taking the time to be with us.
May I ask you to introduce yourself by telling us a little
about your personal background (education, professional experience) and
when, how and why you got involved in tobacco control?
Lutgard Kokulinda Kagaruki: My name is Lutgard Kolulinda Kagaruki. I hold a MSc & Postgraduate Diploma in Medical and
Veterinary Parasitology. I am Principal Livestock Research Officer at the Animal
Diseases Research Institute in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
I have 31 years experience in
I
I am a member of 14 professional associations.
I got involved in tobacco control in 2004, when I was
selected through the Tanzania Association of Women Leaders in Agriculture and
Environment (TAWLAE) to attend the Framework Convention Alliance (FCA)
Awareness Raising and Capacity Building Workshop on Tobacco Control and the
Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in Jinja, Uganda.
However, it was not until 2005, when I attended
the Framework Convention Alliance’s Tobacco Control Strategy Planning Workshop
for East Africa in Nairobi, Kenya, 4th – 9th November
2005, that I started to get really involved in serious tobacco control
advocacy.
It was at this workshop that, Tanzanian participants decided to form
the Tanzania Tobacco Control Forum (TTCF) and I was elected Treasurer and later
Executive secretary of the Forum.
I chose to get involved in tobacco control because I just hated cigarette smoke.
Q1. Can you tell us about the situation of tobacco in Tanzania and what you think the priorities are now for tobacco control? What are the main challenges for tobacco control in your country?
Lutgard Kokulinda Kagaruki: Tobacco cultivation in Tanzania is on the increase and, in the year 2003/2004, tobacco was ranked second foreign exchange earner and generated US $ 55.5m.
These results are constantly used by tobacco
companies and pro-tobacco MPs to justify increase of tobacco growing and use in
Tanzania. Almost all MPs from tobacco growing areas are members to the Tobacco
Boards, which makes it easy for them to cheat the government and other
Parliamentarians on the importance of tobacco for the country.
However, after the serious sensitisation seminars and, the tobacco farmers’ testimonies, most MPs have now changed their perception that, tobacco was inevitable for the country’s economy and, are seriously talking about introduction of alternative crops to tobacco.
This is a
challenge to us because, farmers are calling enquiring as to when we are going
to assist them to acquire alternative crops and, we do not have the resources
to help, but, more so, to research into appropriate alternative crops in areas
where these have not been identified.
Tanzania has a tobacco control law, the Tobacco Products (Regulation) Act, 2003, which among other things, prohibits smoking in public places; tobacco advertising and, selling tobacco to minors. Unfortunately this law is not being enforced and defaulters not prosecuted.
Q2. Can you tell us about the main organizations active in tobacco control in Tanzania and the Tanzania Tobacco Control Forum?
Lutgard Kokulinda Kagaruki: The main organisations active in tobacco control in
Tanzania are:
The Tanzania Public Health Association (TPHA), the
The formation of the
Tanzania Tobacco Control Forum (TTCF), resulted from the Framework Convention
Alliance (FCA) East African Workshop on Tobacco Control Initiatives, held in
Nairobi, Kenya, from 4th – 9th November 2005, whereby Tanzanian
particpants felt the need for co-ordination of tobacco control initiatives in
Tanzania.
TTCF was registered as a non-profit organisation in
Tanzania, with full rights, in June 2006. TTCF vision is to enhance public
health through effective tobacco control. The mission of the Forum is to create
an enabling environment, whereby tobacco control activists and other
stakeholders in various institutions can work together, to make an impact on
reduction of tobacco use in Tanzania.
TTCF has members drawn from diverse governmental
departments/units and NGOs, namely, the Health Education Section of the
Ministry of Health, Ministry of Trade, Ministry of Justice, Centre for
Substance Abuse Prevention (IOGT-NTO), Lawyers Environmental Action Team
(LEAT), Tanzania Public Health Association (TPHA), Concern Worldwide, Tanzania
Youth Vision Association (TYVA), Tanzania Women Leaders in Agriculture and
Environment (TAWLAE), members from media institutions, including: Independent
Press Media (IPP), the Guardian Limited
and the Citizen, members from the
private sector, tobacco farmers and, lately, Members of Parliament (MPs).
TTCF leadership includes the Chairperson, Executive
Secretary, Treasurer and the Campaign/Office Manager, all of whom are honorary
members. Currently, TTCF has more than 100 members who dedicate their time and
resources to advocate for tobacco control.
Through serious sensitization of MPs, TTCF enabled the Tanzania Parliament to endorse the ratification of FCTC, a process that had been delayed since 2003. Tanzania officially ratified the FCTC on 30 April 2007. TTCF has the Minister for Health and Social Welfare (MH&SW) as its patron.
Q3. In your presentation during the World Conference you mentioned that the Tobacco Control Act was not enforced. Tanzania has recently ratified the FCTC. Do you expect this will translate into a better implementation of the tobacco control regulations?
Lutgard Kokulinda Kagaruki: Sure. The ratification of FCTC will definitely translate into a better implementation of the tobacco control regulations. After ratification, TPRA (2003) is now under review, to ensure that it goes in line with FCTC. This review will be ready soon, after which the government will lay down modalities for effective enforcement of the TPRA (2003).
Q4.
Tobacco Control Advocates in Nigeria in conjunction with the Lagos
State just filed a lawsuit against BAT subsidiaries and Philip Morris.
How do you feel about it? Can you imagine such an initiative in the
near future in Tanzania? Lutgard Kokulinda Kagaruki: I do not see a valid reason for filing lawsuits
at the moment. We do not have BAT or Phillip Morris etc. here. We have Japanese
Tobacco International (JTI) Holding B. V. which owns 75% of the shares of
Tanzania Cigarette Company (TCC), the only cigarette manufacturing company in
Tanzania. JTI-TCC have not openly refused to abide by the Tobacco Products
(Regulation) Act, 2003, which is generally not being enforced. After
ratification, the law is under review, to ensure that we have regulations to
enable prosecution of defaulters. Until at such a time (which is not far of
anyway), we remain quiet.
Lutgard Kokulinda Kagaruki: Yes, TTCF did apply for a grant from the
Bloomberg Foundation, unfortunately, we were not successful. It was a long
tedious process and, sometimes quite difficult particularly the electronic
process of sending the final document.
We stayed up to mid-night trying to send
the doc! Although we finally managed, I thought something was not right with
the whole process. After we were informed of our failure to get the grant, we
started wondering as to what those who got it did, that we missed, for we
thought we had prepared a wonderful proposal!!
Anyway, I guess we are just too many of us, fighting a just cause! I have not heard from other groups, apart from the Russian tobacco resource centre that was to close, after I read it through GLOBALink.
Q6. A first African Conference on Tobacco or Health has taken place in Casablanca in December 2006, with a majority of representatives of French speaking African countries in attendance. How do you assess the cooperation between tobacco control advocates in Africa? Is there a need for a continent wide network?
Lutgard Kokulinda Kagaruki: A continent wide network would be a great idea. I attended the Casablanca conference and I must admit, it’s like I was lost (only five people from English speaking Africa!!). We are working towards hosting the second African Conference on Tobacco or Health. I look forward to establishment of an African Network on Tobacco Control.
Q7. May I ask how much do you use the internet for tobacco control? Friends in Ivory Coast and Senegal have reminded me that it is sometimes difficult to get a connection, there are electrical failures, not everybody can get a computer, etc. At the same time I have the impression there are more and more Africans on line, blogging and skyping. What is your own assessment?
Lutgard Kokulinda Kagaruki: Thank God, Tanzania is way ahead in IT technology. I have a computer and I am online all the time, so I do use internet everyday, several times for tobacco control. Yes we do have power failure once in a while, but generally, it is not a big problem. I wouldn’t claim that everybody has a similar advantage, but, for those people without computers but with interest in internet, there are cafes in all corners of Dare s salaam and other big towns. The situation is of course different in the villages, but, the speed with which the government is currently taking, I believe in the near future, majority of Tanzanians should be able to have access to internet even in remote areas.
Q8. Is there anything else you want to add?
Lutgard Kokulinda Kagaruki: Thank you so much for working so hard for tobacco control.
Thanks a lot to you Lutgard for all your good work and for taking the time to answer our questions and providing all the pictures.
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