Debate Soon on New Tobacco Control Bill

Debate on the new Tobacco Control Bill will take place soon in the Lower and Upper Houses, says Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton.

He said that discussions on the Bill by members of the Joint Select Committee took some time, but that was done to ensure consensus was reached.

In an interview with JIS News, the Minister said he hopes debate on the Bill will be smooth, adding that they will have to spend some time on public education, because “it is a comprehensive legislation, which means a lot of new changes”.

“A lot of new boundaries and guidelines, which mean that people need to know in the first instance. It is bringing in things like electronic cigarettes, which was not covered before. It is around issues such as advertising… it is fairly comprehensive. So, I did not mind the time, because we wanted it to be done properly and to be as participatory as possible,” the Minister said.

He added that the legislation it intended to restrict smoking as much as possible, and where possible, protect people who are not smokers from interacting with smoking and “all the lead-off from that, including eliminating advertising”.

“It (smoking) ultimately leads to your demise. Now other things do, let us be clear, but there is a finality to inhaling all the smoke in your lungs that I believe the studies show is a real challenge. So, ultimately, it is about trying to eliminate, reduce, and hopefully, totally prevent cigarettes from being a health hazard to those who use it and others around,” the Minister said.

The new Bill also puts the island in line to satisfy its outstanding obligations under the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Treaty (FCTC), which it ratified more than 18 years ago. These are obligations that could not be satisfied under the existing Public Health (Tobacco Control) Regulations, 2013.

Among other things, the updated legislation is a response tool to curtail the promotion and sale of tobacco products to children, while also prohibiting the use of electronic nicotine delivery systems, such as e-cigarettes in public spaces, and encouraging the cessation and reduction of smoking rates in the country.

It also delivers to the public a clear message of the harmful health, environmental, economic, and social consequences of the use of tobacco and nicotine products.