[Intl-tobacco] WHO Pushes for Tough Anti-Tobacco Rules in Africa, OAU Wary

[Robert Weissman]

WHO Pushes for Tough Anti-Tobacco Rules in Africa

by David Mageria
AFRICA;
Source: Reuters, Tuesday, 10/24/00
 NAIROBI, Kenya (Reuters) - The World Health Organization Tuesday urged
tougher
anti-tobacco policies in Africa, but the OAU is worried the drive could
undermine political and economic stability if farmers are not given
alternatives.

Parliamentarians and health experts from 21 African English-speaking
countries
are meeting in Nairobi as the WHO whips up support for its tobacco
control
campaign.

The organization is calling for higher taxes, bans on tobacco
advertising,
restrictions on smoking in work and public places and active enforcement
of the
policies. ''Action must be taken to stop this preventable epidemic, and
you
Honorable Parliamentarians play an important role,'' WHO's regional
director
for Africa, Dr. Ebrahim Samba, said in a message circulated at the
meeting.

But faced with declining economic growth, political uncertainties and a
host of
other deadly diseases, African governments are calling for caution. ''To

curtail the production of tobacco without sustainable and viable choices
may
create political instability when African economies are either fragile
or
stagnant,'' the Organization of African Unity's (OAU) Dr. Laban Masimba
told
the meeting.

Cigarette smoking in Africa has increased steadily in the last decade
and is
estimated to be 2.5 percent higher than the rate of increase in other
developing countries.

Tobacco firms have invested heavily in Africa and contribute huge sums
to the
coffers of cash-strapped governments which have hesitated to take on the
big
tobacco firms.

Thousands of people are employed by these companies and the crop itself
is
grown by millions of peasant farmers.

Tobacco is a key foreign exchange earner for countries like Zimbabwe and
Malawi
and is also an important cash crop in Tanzania, South Africa, Egypt and
Kenya.

Who Says Tobacco To Become Leading Killer

But WHO hopes to make governments understand that cigarette smoking
undermines
the health of their populations and dealing with its effects eats
substantially
into their budgets.

``The goal is not to pressure countries to stop tobacco production but
rather
work together to develop strategies to assist them in becoming less
dependent
on tobacco,'' Samba said.

WHO says worldwide, tobacco will soon kill more people than the combined
toll
from HIV, malaria, tuberculosis and automobile crashes and suicides.

Although WHO has promised to help countries develop alternatives to
tobacco
growing, the OAU says the problem is far more complex than that.

It cites losses that African countries would run if they reduced tobacco
output
at a time when the World Trade Organization (news - web sites) is urging
global
tariff cuts which would result in an expansion of the tobacco market.

The problem of health should be looked at in the context of overall
human
development, said Masimba, a senior policy officer in the OAU's public
health
section.

``Factors which impact negatively on human health should be treated as a

package rather than in a fragmented manner, he said.''