The
director of Health Promotion and Education at the Ministry of Health and Social
Welfare, Modou Njai, has challenged the people residing in the country to say
no to smoking, considering the dangers associated with tobacco.
He
made the statement during a press briefing held recently organized by RAID The
Gambia, Ministry of Health and WHO, to
create awareness about the danger of tobacco.
The
press briefing was organised to inform the people about the forthcoming Tobacco
Control Act commemoration, scheduled for 12 July 2017.
According to Mr Njai, the purpose of the press
briefing was to raise awareness on tobacco control and its danger in society
He
said every year, there was a theme chosen for tobacco control celebration and
this year, the theme will be “tobacco is a threat to development”.
He
noted that they could not work without the media, saying that the media are
very important partners.
According
to him, when the health journalists association was formed, it was a boost for
the ministry of health in the area of health dissemination.
He further stated that the ministry of health
could not do all but with the support of the media it would greatly help in
awareness creation campaign.
“We
are very grateful to the media for their important role they are playing in our
society and we urged them to continue with the good work for reaching out to
the people in getting the correct information on tobacco smoking,” Mr Njai
said.
For
his part, the Executive Director of RAID The Gambia, Sambujang Conteh, said
tobacco control could not be handled with single ministries in isolation.
He
commended the director of health promotion and education directorate through
the ministry of health for the job well done in involving the media and
creating a multi-sectoral group.
He
added that the framework convention and tobacco control could not be
implemented by a single party; hence it called for collective effort.
Also
speaking was Momodou Gassama, communication officer at WHO, who spoke
extensively about the danger of tobacco, saying that over seven million people
are dying globally, hence there was a need to look for solution as the least
developing countries are the most affected.
