Smoking Vs Livelihood - Which Way Forward?

By Matongo Maumbi,

Tobacco kills almost five million people each year. If current trends continue, it is projected to kill 10 million people a year by 2020, with 70% of those deaths occurring in developing countries. Tobacco also takes an enormous toll in health care costs, lost productivity, and of course the intangible costs of the pain and suffering inflicted upon smokers, passive smokers and their families.

In May 2003, the member countries of the World Health Organization adopted a historic tobacco control treaty, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which has the potential to reduce this terrible toll.

Zambia signed the treaty to be party to the FCTC in 2007 but has lagged behind in putting to effect the recommendations under the treaty.

The FCTC is encouraging governments to increase tax on tobacco and related substances so as to discourage would-be smokers and those that are already in the habit. Is it the nation's well-being or the nation's wealth that counts here? Certainly the nation has to have a healthy citizenry so that they become much more productive.

The objective of the FCTC is "to protect present and future generations from the devastating health, social, environmental and economic consequences of tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco smoke." The Preamble of the FCTC recognises the need for countries to give priority to their right to protect public health, the unique nature of tobacco products and the harm that companies that produce them cause.

Tobacco tax increases are encouraged in the FCTC, but the Zambian Government is doing the direct opposite. The treaty states that "each Party should take account of its national health objectives concerning tobacco control" in its tobacco tax and price policies. The treaty recognizes that raising prices through tax increases and other means "is an effective and important means of reducing tobacco consumption by various segments of the population, in particular young persons."

The momentum after signing was good because just a year later, in April 2008, Zambia passed on a law that prohibits smoking in public places but its implementation leaves much to be desired as local authorities are finding it very difficult to do so.

The other challenge that has been in enforcing the ban on smoking in public places is the non-availability of smoking zones in offices or just any other place. Smokers believe that if they are smoking in open space, then they are not affecting anyone around them as the wind will blow away the smoke.

AND to add salt to the challenge on the ban, tobacco farmers recently attending the Intern-ational Tobacco Growers Association (ITGA) Africa Regional Meeting in Lusaka Zambia have strongly opposed proposals by the World Health Organisation's (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) that threaten the region's econ-omies.

According to a story by The Financial Gazette of Zimbabwe, the declaration came from agricultural leaders from Kenya, Malawi, So-uth Africa, Tanzania, Zam-bia, and Zimbabwe.

The FCTC now recommends, among other things, that governments phase out tobacco farming by limiting ­­­the land where it can be grown and endorsing the dismantling of all bodies relating governments with growers-such as the tobacco boards-thus putting farmers' livelihoods at risk while failing to offer an economically viable alternative crop.

At the Zambian meeting, all tobacco growing countries were urged to defend the interests of tobacco farmers that provide employment and income for thousands of African farmers and their families by rejecting the draft policy recommendations for Articles 17 and 18 and urging other governments to reject the draft recommendations, as long as they just aim to destroy the tobacco farmer's livelihoods.

Articles 17 and 18 focus on the provision of economically sustainable alternatives to tobacco growing and protection of the environment. Very little research on alternative, economically viable crops has been undertaken and as the group recognises, any future research will require lengthy time trials.

However, the FCTC has now put forward unreasonable and absurd measures to phase out tobacco production, without offering the vast African producers that heavily rely on tobacco any viable fall-back solutions."

The meeting also observed that the working group responsible for these proposals known as the working group for Articles 17 and 18 is being driven by health officers with little to no real world knowledge of agriculture , tobacco farming , or the challenges faced by farmers and farm workers living in rural areas.

"The working group should be reminded that the FCTC has acknowledged that the tobacco farming community should be involved at every stage of policy development and implementation. Yet it has failed at any time to meaningfully consult farmers or the associations that represent them and their interests on specific, detailed, and credible options to other viable crops, ignoring the reiterated offers of co-operation by growers organisations from all over the world," ITGA said.

ITGA also called on governments to request the working group for Articles 17 and 18 to revise its draft policy recommendations, to seek input from tobacco farmers' organizations and agricultural policy specialists on specific, detailed, and credible options for diversification with alternative crops.

The association which represent millions of farmers and tobacco workers and countless tobacco farming communities in Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe refused to accept the FCTC systematic discrimination of tobacco growers.

"All tobacco farmers, farm workers, and farming communities should acti-vely and collectively def-end their land, their jobs, and their livelihood from efforts to deny the right to produce the legal crops that better assure their economic prosperity and we should remain actively engaged in opposing these proposals," ITGA added.

Since the adoption of the FCTC, the ITGA has argued that these measures will have disastrous social and economic consequences without making any difference to peoples' health.

In spite of ringing the alarm bells, the ITGA's request for a seat at the table has been rejected, dismissing farmers as "interferences".

Nonsmokers must be protected in workplaces, public transport and indoor public places. The treaty recognizes that exposure to tobacco smoke has been scientifically proven to cause death, disease and disability. It requires all Parties to implement effective measures to protect non-smokers from tobacco smoke in public places, including workplaces, public transport and indoor public places -- evidence indicates that only a total smoking ban is effective in protecting non-smokers.

The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) is the first treaty initiated by the World Health Assembly, the governing body of the World Health Organization (WHO). Negotiations began in October 1999 and concluded on March 1st 2003. The FCTC was adopted at the World Health Assembly on May 23, 2003 and is now open for signature and ratification. TB

(with excerpts from Framework Convention Alliance and Tobacco Information & Prevention Source – TIPS)