Tobacco is an umbrella name given to over 70 species of plants in the genus nicotiana and the family Solanaceae. It is used to refer to the cured leaves of these plants. The active ingredients in tobacco are nicotine and harmine, a beta-carboline and a harmala alkaloid that occurs in several different plants. The...
Hundreds of farmers in Migori County, Kenya will break free from risky tobacco farming and transition to producing more sustainable crops, through the Tobacco-Free Farms Project being launched today. Tobacco-Free Farms project is a joint initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Food Programme, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United...
The Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) on Wednesday, March 16, 2022, called on the Health Ministry, and all relevant law enforcement agencies in the country to intensify enforcement of graphic health warnings policy on tobacco products. The group said recent monitoring exercises that it carried out with other groups such as the Nigeria...
The South African government will propose a new tax on vaping products to take effect in 2023, according to Vaping360. The move follows the government’s announcement last year that it intended to tax e-liquids. South African Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana outlined the new tax proposal as part of a package of new and increased excise taxes on tobacco, alcohol and high-sugar...
NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 4 – The Kenya Tobacco Control Alliance (KTCA) has called on the government to hasten measures to control the use of harmful tobacco substances in Kenya, including the nicotine pouches that are deceptively being sold as quitting agents. KTCA recommended the implementation of the Tobacco Control Fund and the inclusion of two...
Tobacco giant, Imperial Brands, at its annual shareholders meeting recently in the UK, announced its profits and plans for the next five years - these plans depict a bleak future for Africa. The tobacco multinational plans to turn Africa “from an unloved asset to a platform for future growth.” According to Imperial Brands, tobacco sales...
The Kenya Tobacco Control Alliance (KETCA) is urging the Ministry of Health to operationalise the Tobacco Control Fund and add two new non-nicotine tobacco cessation medicines to Kenya’s 2022 essential medicines list. KETCA is also calling upon the government to hasten measures to control the use of harmful tobacco substances in Kenya, including the nicotine...
A study by the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), has said if excise tax was levied as a specific tax on tobacco, it would significantly improve the fiscal and public health effects in Ghana. However, it said, since the specific tax would be eroded by inflation, the Ministry of Finance should regularly...
The Nigerian Cancer Society (NCS) has petitioned Netflix, Ebonylife, FilmOne, and other movie industry stakeholders in Nigeria to pursue the removal of tobacco scenes from Nollywood films. The NCS had put out a public digital petition to mark the launch of its Smoke-Free Nollywood campaign on Friday. Adamu Alhassan Umar, the NCS President, said tobacco use is...
Tobacco farmers are responsible for a fifth of the total annual deforestation in Zimbabwe, cutting down trees to burn in their curing barns. While the practice is not permitted, enforcement remains lax, and solutions such as establishing woodlots have not proved fast or scalable enough to address the problem. With Zimbabwe expected to...
