NIGERIANS CONSUME 29 BILLION STICKS OF CIGARETTE ANNUALLY, SAYS FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

“A key outcome of this review was the ban on all characterising flavours including the addition of menthol into tobacco products. This decision is to protect our children from getting enticed by flavoured tobacco products’.

‘Let me stress that the ban on tobacco products with characterising flavour is still in place and the ban includes shisha because it has flavour. I therefore urge the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) and the law enforcement agencies to intensify arrest of defaulters,” he said.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) country representative, Wondi Alemu, in his speech said tobacco control is one of the most effective means to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which target, by 2030, premature deaths from non-communicable diseases.

Alemu said the elimination of tobacco use will help to prevent millions of people dying from non-communicable diseases, pointing out that,“on average, tobacco users lose 15years of life. In the African Region, about 146,000 adults, aged 30 years and above, die every year from tobacco related diseases,”.

Penpushing reports that, to further discourage tobacco consumption and increase government revenue, Nigeria increased tax on tobacco products, as well as alcoholic beverages. The new tax regime commenced on Monday.

Meanwhile, the “World No Tobacco Day” is celebrated annually on May 31. This year’s World No Tobacco Day theme is “Tobacco and Heart Disease.”