No Tobacco Day: FDA sustains anti-tobacco education in schools, public places

No Tobacco Day: FDA sustains anti-tobacco education in schools, public places, As part of this year’s World No Tobacco Day-2021 (WNTD) celebrations, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is ramping up its anti-tobacco smoking public education campaign in schools, marketplaces, and transportation facilities.

The goal of the education is to raise public awareness about the need of quitting smoking and the health advantages that come with it.

According to the FDA, the year-long campaign, themed “Commit to Quit,” would advocate for strong tobacco cessation policies, promote increased access to cessation services, raise awareness of tobacco industry tactics, and empower tobacco users to quit smoking successfully through “quit and win initiatives.”

Despite the fact that more than 804,000 adults in Ghana smoke cigarettes and other tobacco products on a daily basis, the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS, 2017) estimates that young people in the nation are also affected.

According to the GYTS Ghana Fact Sheet, 8.8% of boys and 8.1 percent of girls now use tobacco products, while shisha use is on the rise among young people in the country.

Tobacco kills more than eight million people per year throughout the world, with about seven million of these deaths resulting directly from tobacco use and 1.2 million people dying as a result of second-hand smoke from smokers.

Smokers are exposed to a hazardous cocktail of over 7000 chemicals, including at least 70 recognized carcinogens that may harm virtually every organ in the human body.

Speaking on the need for smokers to quit, Dr. Mrs Olivia Boateng, Director of the FDA’s Tobacco and Substances of Abuse Department, said the COVID-19 pandemic has presented a higher risk to smokers because hand-to-mouth contact during smoking and sharing mouth pieces of shisha tubes could easily aid the spread of the virus.

According to Dr. Boateng, a review of research conducted by public health specialists assembled by WHO on April 29, 2020, validated smokers’ increased risk of COVID-19 problems as well as other respiratory disorders.

According to her, the difficulties are caused by the deterioration of lung function caused by long-term exposure to cigarette carcinogens.

She added the Tobacco Atlas Ghana (2015) projected that there were 804,000 daily cigarette smokers, with more than 425,200 men, 69,200 women, and 2,700 boys. Every week, about 75 males in Ghana die as a result of cigarette smoking.

To this purpose, the FDA is promoting the advantages of quitting smoking.

She added the Tobacco Atlas Ghana (2015) projected that there were 804,000 daily cigarette smokers, with more than 425,200 men, 69,200 women, and 2,700 boys. Every week, about 75 males in Ghana die as a result of cigarette smoking.

To this purpose, the FDA is promoting the advantages of quitting smoking. These advantages are substantial and begin to take effect nearly immediately.

For example, stopping smoking for 20 minutes causes a decrease in heart rate. The carbon monoxide level in a smoker’s blood returns to normal after 12 hours, and blood circulation improves with a proportional rise in lung function after 2-12 weeks.

Furthermore, coughing and shortness of breath decrease after a period of 1-9 months, and the smoker’s stroke risk is lowered to that of a non-smoker after 5-15 years. In addition, during 15 years, a smoker’s risk of heart disease lowers to the same level as a non smokers.

Smokers have also been directed to various health facilities around the nation for counseling and cessation programs by the Authority. The Korle Bu Teaching Hospital’s Addictive Disease Centre, Accra Psychiatric Hospital, Pantang Psychiatric Hospital, Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital, Valley View Clinic, Adom Clinic (Kumasi), Sunyani Regional Hospital, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and the Ho Teaching Hospital are among these facilities.

Meanwhile, Mrs Delese Mimi Darko, the FDA’s Chief Executive, has stated that the FDA’s continued enforcement of comprehensive smoke-free policies such as the ban on tobacco advertisement, fees on tobacco product importation, ban on public smoking, and the corresponding imposition of punitive fines has helped to reduce tobacco use in Ghana.