Tobacco producing countries to be shielded from smoking ban

Tinomuda Chakanyuka in Kenya
COUNTRIES like Zimbabwe whose economies are anchored on tobacco farming and export will not be affected even if the global campaign to end the smoking of combustible cigarettes succeeds, an expert has said.

Speaking at a Tobacco Harm Reduction Media Conference in Naivasha, Kenya last week Dr Tendai Mhizha said tobacco farming will continue to be a profitable venture. Dr Mhizha is a continental lecturer and permanent member of the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) at the University of Pretoria in South Africa.

She said the push to provide new frontiers to a smoke free world by adopting new technologies will not affect the demand for nicotine which can only be derived from tobacco. New Alternative Nicotine Delivery Systems (ANDS) such as E-cigarettes and patches are being pushed to replace combustible cigarettes and are believed to reduce risk to health by 95 percent.

“People smoke cigarettes for nicotine but die from tar and other toxins that come from the smoke. The interests of Governments of tobacco producing countries are safe. The push for a smoke free world doesn’t eradicate farming of tobacco because nicotine is needed for the ANDS and that nicotine can only be found in tobacco,” she said.

Countries like Zimbabwe and Malawi whose economies are driven by tobacco farming have been reluctant to embrace the campaign for a smoke free world fearing consequences on their economy.

Zimbabwe is the largest producer of tobacco in Africa and the sixth largest producer in the world, while a significant percentage of Malawi’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is accounted for by tobacco.

Dr Mhizha urged such countries to embrace the new technologies that will help reduce the harm of combustible cigarettes on smokers. She was however, critical of some proposals to totally ban smoking urging for market based technological solutions towards tobacco harm reduction.

“I believe banning is futile. There will be unintended consequences of regulation on tobacco. Heavy regulation produces negative outcomes. Instead we should focus more on market based solutions,” said Dr Mhizha.

She added that society expected players in the tobacco industry to act responsibly by buying into the idea of having a smoke free world. Dr Mhizha, while acknowledging the impact a smoke free world will have on cigarette manufacturing companies, urged the same companies to invest in new technologies that reduce harm on human beings. She said some players in the industry were providing a primary roadmap to a smoke-free future.

“The tobacco industry understands the millions of men and women who smoke cigarettes are looking for less harmful, yet satisfying, alternatives to smoking. E-cigarettes don’t contain tar that is harmful to many humans, but still offers the rituals of smoking that consumers have become accustomed to and value,” she added.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that over a billion people smoke cigarettes, and this number is projected to remain largely unchanged by 2025.

An estimated 7 million people die from tobacco annually despite the efforts of the anti-tobacco agencies and world-wide anti-smoking campaigns. Journalists drawn from 14 Southern, West and East African countries attended the conference.

Key speakers at the conference included Debo Adesina (The Guardian Nigerian Editor-in-Chief); Daniel Kalinaki (Managing Editor, Regional Content, Nation Media Group) Mr Aliou Goloko (Secretary General –REJOiNT (A reporter’s network specialised on monitoring the tobacco and nicotine industry).