The World Health Organization (WHO) has revealed that more than 6,000 men and women in Ghana die annually through the smoking of tobacco.
According to the organisation, the alarming rate at which people die through the smoking of tobacco means the drug is a dire public health threat.
This was contained in a speech read on behalf of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Representative, Dr. Francis Kasolo at a durbar organised by the Paramount Chief of Sakote to mark this year’s Tenglebigre festival, the adverse effects of tobacco on both human health and the environment was the main focus of this year’s World Tobacco Day celebration.
“In Ghana, about 780,000 men and 24,9000 women smoke cigarettes each day, killing more than 6,7000 Ghanaians every year and making it a dire public health threat (Tobacco Atlas Ghana). The threat posed by tobacco to our environment was the focus of this year’s celebration. This year, the World Health Organization (WHO) drew the attention to the effects of that tobacco use has on both human health and the environment, seeks actions and effective policies to reduce tobacco consumption and to hold tobacco industry responsible for the harm they cause to the environment and human health,” the world’s health governing body stated.
WHO further said the cultural significance of tobacco in the northern part of the country, has opened the floodgate for people to use the drug. The organisation therefore proposed the adoption of ‘culturally acceptable alternatives to the utilisation of the drug as a cultural staple in the Northern part of the country.’
WHO concluded by emphasising its commitment to supporting all relevant stakeholders to speed up the implementation of measures aimed at reducing the smoking of tobacco in the country.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1 MHz|Elijah Beyeni Yenibey|Nabdam
