Kenyan Smoking on the Rise (fwd)

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

Cigarette Smoking - A Fatal Bondage

[Source : The East African Standard, The Big Issue,
November 15 1999] The Standard Limited.
By Douglas Okwatch

(Nairobi, November, 872) The Middle-class, better-educated and more
informed Kenyans are giving up smoking in large numbers but in the slums,
the estates and the rural areas nicotine is still the cheapest recreational
activity.

Millions of Kenyans are still beguiled by cigarette advertising and
genuinely believe cigarette smoking is stylish, modern activity.

Cigarette smoking, as a serious health hazard is a burning issue. It is
turning the lives of thousands of low-income bracket Kenyans into ashes.

In Kenya, medical authorities confirm that there is an increase in cases of
tobacco induced lung cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

Dr Peter Njagi a consultant psychiatrist at Mathare Hospital believes that
people smoke simply because they want to copy others. "The Kenyan situation
is now at its peak." 

The Kenya Medical Association (KMA) is seeking the establishment of a
Tobacco Products (Regulatory) Board, which will regulate the sale and
marketing of tobacco products. The Board will consist of at least eleven
members drawn from various sectors of society.

Arguably, the biggest influence in drawing people to smoke is the
advertising of the tobacco products.

Young people are the tobacco industry's biggest source of new customers,
replacing adults who quit or die because of their habit.

KMA demands that the tobacco industry bears the costs of smoking. It
describes the industry's marketing strategies as insensitive to the youth.
Instead of information advertising, the industry promotes a life style
advertising which, they argue, entices them into smoking habits.

In a recent study carried out by the East African Standard in The Big Issue
magazine, various adults of both sexes interviewed confirmed they started
smoking through peer pressure and some have tried to quit but have not
succeeded. Lucy Njeri says she can't quit, "if I don't smoke for just a
single hour, my nose starts to bleed. It is like I am hooked. I have been
trying to quit for years."

As for Lilian Behr, 37, she has been smoking cigarettes for the last 18
years. "Whenever I try to stop the habit, I feel sick, a terrible headache,
dizziness and I start coughing...and the next thing that crosses my mind is
to smoke. Only God knows when I will stop smoking cigarettes."

For Lawrence Ng'eno 27, says persistent chest pains and regular asthma
attacks forced him to abandon smoking, which he had been doing for seven
years. To his delight, Ng'eno says he has never experienced chest problems
and the frequent asthma attacks. 

But the Cigarette Company British American Tobacco argues that there has
been a health debate about smoking for the past 400 years at least. "Surely
there can be nobody left in Kenya or anywhere else for that matter who has
not heard that smoking is linked to disease - every single pack of
cigarettes has carried a health warning for many years," says a BAT
spokesman. 

The company argues that over a million people owe all or some of their
livelihoods to tobacco in Kenya. Starting from the fields, more than 20,000
farmers chose to produce tobacco in Kenya. Secondly, tobacco companies are
some of the biggest cess payers in many growing districts. 

Tobacco growing in Kenya started in 1974 at the request of the government
when it recognised the absurdity of importing tobacco from Tanzania when
Kenyans could benefit massively from growing themselves.

Dr Charles Maringo, a public and preventive health specialist, and a vocal
member of the Tobacco Control Committee (a standing committee of the Kenya
Medical Association), says the warning on cigarette packs and
advertisements, is not enough and proposes the need to have proper tobacco
information inculcated in the rules and regulation.

In a study he conducted in February on the tobacco situation in Kenya in
February this year, Dr Maringo says there is no system in place to regulate
tobacco information. He feels the government is guilty of supporting
policies and initiatives to encourage increase in tobacco production in the
country.

Although he does not advocate for a total ban on cigarette smoking, Dr
Maringo wants the consumption of the product regulated.

In Kenya Dr Maringo says smoking prevalence for males is 67 per cent while
that of women is 32 per cent. A recent study indicated that 45 per cent of
the smokers are below 20 years old.

Currently, tobacco products kill 3 million people in the world a year.
Seventy per cent of these deaths occur in developing countries. Dr Maringo
says smoking is the leading cause of premature death in the country. 

Almost all key ailments in the country, he says, have tobacco related
complications, whether one is a smoker or passive smoker.

Tobacco heavily contributes to the cancers of the kidney and cervix and its
use also worsens peptic ulcers and can cause pregnancy complications.

Children exposed to environmental tobacco smoke, Dr Maringo says, have
higher risks of respiratory infections and severe asthmatic attacks.

However, Dr Maringo says the rising trend in smoking can be stopped if the
government commits itself to the anti-tobacco crusade and if an appropriate
tobacco crusade and if an appropriate tobacco control legislation is put in
place. - ends -