Gov’t Committed to Legislation to Combat Tobacco Use

The Government remains committed to the enactment of comprehensive legislation to combat the use and consequences of tobacco products.
This is according to Chief Medical Officer of Health in the Ministry of Health and the Environment, Dr. Sheila Campbell-Forrester, who was speaking at the opening ceremony for the Caribbean Regional Workshop on the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), being held at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston from August 12 to 15.
Speaking on behalf of the Minister of Health and the Environment, Rudyard Spencer, Dr. Campbell-Forrester informed that, “we will bring to Parliament a Tobacco Control Legislation that will reflect the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.”
To be included in the legislation will be a total ban on tobacco advertising, sponsorship and promotion of all forms, smoke free environments in all enclosed spaces, as well as the prohibition of the sale of tobacco products to minors. Also, the matter of illicit trade of tobacco products and other areas is to be addressed.
Dr. Campbell-Forrester said that although the legislation is not yet finalised “the Government of Jamaica is serious about tobacco control as demonstrated by the stepwise increase in taxation. The last increase was in April this year when a raise was announced to yield projected revenue of $2.88 billion per annum. A significant proportion of this will be channelled into the National Health Fund (NHF), to be used for health promotion purposes.”
She noted that in the Caribbean, it is thought that tobacco usage is not a major problem, but, “this is only because of the deceptive nature of the effects of tobacco use with its long latency period between usage and the manifestation of disease.”
“As the figures have shown, we are facing a situation that is of epidemic proportions and the onus is on us to prevent further devastating effects on society. More and more persons are dying from both direct usage of tobacco as well as the second-hand effects of its use. More and more young people are smoking and there is an increase of smoking among young girls, even though we have added taxation to cigarettes,” Dr. Campbell-Forrester noted further.
She said that according to the Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO), a study carried out in Latin America and the Caribbean, revealed that consumption of tobacco last month among adolescents 13 to 17 years old, ranged between 2.2 per cent and 38.7 per cent. “This is indeed frightening. It means that we have not yet been able to reach our young people where it matters most, in preventing the start of tobacco use,” she noted.
On another matter, Dr. Campbell-Forrester noted that the Celebrating Health Festival, which is usually staged in November, will now be held in September, starting this year, in observation of Caribbean Wellness Day on September 13. The event will focus strongly on, among other healthy lifestyle messages, the prevention of tobacco use.
The workshop, which is being held in collaboration the Ministry of Health and Environment, the World Health Organisation (WHO) Convention Secretariat, the Canadian Lung Association (CLA) and Health Canada and the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), aims to build national capacity among Caribbean countries for the successful implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).
The main focus will be on packaging and labelling of tobacco products, smoke free environments and protection from second-hand smoke, price and tax measures to reduce demand, as well as elimination of illicit trade in tobacco products, said Dr. Campbell-Forrester.