Saturday May 14, 2016
Kabul (BNA) Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) plans to take necessary measures to prevent increasing tobacco in the country.
Officials of the ministry said that after indorsing, the law on tobacco control plays leading role. As well as, a commission and a committee have been established and they have already started activities to prevent increase in tobacco products, the officials further said. An in-charge in mental health department of the MoPH, Dr. Bashir Sarwari said, ‘Law on Tobacco Control has been indorsed by the Afghan government two years ago. According to the law, the ministry has a leading role to create coordination between the organs and the relevant offices to oversight implementation of the law.’ Work has been done on two main priorities so far, first, to raise the tax on tobacco products and second, to ban smoking in public places and the government offices, the officials added. To decrease tobacco products, the government of Afghanistan should impose a particular procedure, as after ratifying the law on tobacco control law, the Lower House of the Parliament has increased tax on tobacco products by ten percent, the officials continued.
Likewise, the MoPH has arranged some procedures for all public places, government and non-government organizations based on which smoking has been banned in the specific areas, but it has not still been seriously practiced, the officials went on to say. Pointing at the tobaccos, Dr. Sarwari said, ‘Tobacco has 4,000 chemical substances and when they are mixed with cigarettes, the harms get increased.’ A Kabul resident, Matin said, ‘Once, I went to a government office, a number of the employees were smoking and the people who were around them were breathing the smoke. Those who smoke should be provided with specific places so they don’t harm others’ health, Matin added.’ Afghanistan is home to one of the world’s highest death rates due to non-communicable diseases (NCDs), according to the World Health Organization. The leading attributable risk factor for NCDs—chronic respiratory diseases, cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases –is tobacco use.
Tobacco is big business in most developing countries, and in Afghanistan it is booming: the country imports 44 tons of cigarettes a day, and the import value is estimated at over $2 billion. It is no wonder, considering the wide availability of cigarettes and that a packet costs just $0.30 in Afghanistan, compared to the average cost of $5-$6 per pack in the USA. The numbers are as sobering as they are alarming, but they may prove to be the tip of the iceberg. Traditional ways of tobacco use in Afghanistan include naswar (moist snuff) and one of the most potent forms of tobacco chelam (hookah), both of which remain popular. A traditional hour of smoking hookah is equivalent to 100 cigarettes. Unfortunately, the ongoing conflict and political instability, along with corruption have made national strategies against all forms of addiction, nearly ineffectual. Therefore, the best way to educate about the harmful effects of smoking is at schools. Nonprofit and religious organizations also have a strong voice to influence their communities’ social and personal behaviors, and this influence can also be harnessed to take a stand against smoking.
Shukria Kohistani
