Government to introduce stricter anti-smoking rules for South Africa
The department of health is pushing forward on a draft bill in an effort to get more stringent anti-smoking laws passed. The department’s Lynn Moeng told EWN that the Control of Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Bill is currently in the pipeline, and that government is working as ‘fast as it can’ to have...
Zimbabwe: Farmers welcome tobacco transformation plan
Farmers have welcomed the Tobacco Transformation Plan, which is aimed at boosting production through local funding. Government instituted a tobacco value addition and transformation roadmap under the National Value Chain Tobacco Transformation Plan last week, which is aimed at localising tobacco financing and transforming the industry into a US$5 billion industry by 2025. The plan is...
Covid 19: How harm reduction advocates and the tobacco industry capitalised on the pandemic to promote nicotine
Scientific papers suggesting that smokers are less likely to fall ill with covid-19 are being discredited as links to the tobacco industry are revealed, report Stéphane Horel and Ties Keyzer In the early days of the pandemic, media outlets around the world reported that smokers seemed to be under-represented among patients seriously ill with covid-19...
Tobacco is a threat to a just and sustainable development
The EU is preparing a due diligence law by June 2021 to hold companies accountable for their impact on people and the planet. There is an urgent need to address the human rights violations, child labour, environmental impact, and disinformation of the tobacco industry, write Helen Stjerna, Farida Akhter, and Sonja von Eichborn. Helen Stjerna...
Kenya: State moves to stop growing nicotine addiction with new taxes
In Summary Nicotine is a highly addictive drug that obstructs the developing brain and many teenagers are unable to quit, the World Health Organisation says. The Kenya Tobacco Control Alliance says because there is no age-verification system to curb illegal sale to minors, taxes are a welcome step. The government seeks to stop a growing...
Raise age for sale of cigarettes to 21 and stop ‘tobacco epidemic’, say UK MPs
Making it illegal for more young people to buy cigarettes would help meet the government’s target of ending smoking by 2030, MPs say MPs have called for a consultation on raising the age for the sale of cigarettes to 21 from 18 in order to end the “tobacco epidemic” by 2030. The all-party parliamentary group on...
