RAID-The
Gambia, in collaboration with partners, informed the general public that the
long struggle in the development and enactment of the Tobacco Control Act of
2016 has finally succeeded.
As part of this development, RAID-The Gambia
with partners held a press conference on Wednesday to disseminate information
across the length and breadth of the country.
According
to officials, the objective of the Act is to protect people from the
devastating health risk of tobacco. Tobacco is one of the leading causes of
death in the world.
Speaking
at the briefing, the Executive Director of RAID-The Gambia, Sambujang Conteh,
said tobacco kills 3 to 4 million people worldwide annually and will kill
nearly half of all its active users.
He
said the Key part of the Act is a tobacco-smoke free environment. This means the prohibition of smoking in all
public places, workplaces, on public transport and within 100 meters of others
while smoking.
He
thanked the media fraternity for the coverage as well as the ministry of
health, WHO country office and the donors to the RAID capacity building project
for their support in aiming to make The Gambia a tobacco-free society.
For
his part, Omar Badjie, program manager of Tobacco Control, said tobacco control
should be a collective effort as they cannot do it alone.
According
to him, The Gambia is the leading country in terms of Tobacco control in Africa
region.
He
emphasized the dangers of Tobacco, saying it could cause cancer, heart disease,
stomach ulcers, and deformed sperm among other conditions.
Mr
Badjie expressed hope that the bill enacted will go a long way in the
sanitisation of the country and disease control.
Momodou
Gassama, who also spoke at the event, said people are dying secretly as a
result of smoking.
The
deputy director of health promotion and education at the Ministry of Health,
Sajally Trawally, joined previous speakers to emphasise the danger of smoking.
He also urged the general public to stay away from tobacco.
