Smoking is dangerous to the health of not only the actual smokers but also people near them who are exposed to secondhand smoke coming from side stream.
However, despite the massive sensitization, warnings by scientists, and other measures taken by authorities to discourage Gambians from smoking, an alarming figure revealed by the Gambian health authorities indicated that tobacco consumers in the Gambia spend a staggering amount of over Five million dalasis (over D5,000,000) on tobacco products, annually.
The disclosure was made to journalists during a recent press briefing convened at the Central Medical Stores in Kotu, on the status of tobacco control in the Gambia.
Addressing journalists, the Programme Manager of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) and National Tobacco Control Focal Point at the Ministry of Health, Mr. Omar Badjie, informed that annually, around 8 million people die from diseases caused by tobacco use, including about 890,000 from secondhand smoke exposure.
He lamented that the burden of diseases from tobacco is increasingly concentrated in LMICs [low-and middle-income countries]; 16.7% of 2.2million is 376,400×10 =3,674000 sticks, per person.
GMD 40.00 is spent per day taking the lower limit of GMD 4 per stick cost collectively GMD14,696,000 per day spent on cigarettes by current smokers for a month is 30×14,696,000= 440,880,000 and for a year is 12×440,880,000=5,290,560,000 (5 billion).
According to Badjie, 16.7% of Gambians are exposed to tobacco, and prevalence shows an alarming figure of 31% and 12.8% for males and females, respectively.
“This shows that an average Gambian male aged 25-65 years smoke about 10 sticks of cigarettes and shisha usage in the Gambia is 8.4% in the country- which means there is a bit of decrease in shisha and cigarettes.
He further went on to say the reason why cigar kills is that it contains nicotine-an addictive substance; that cigarette burns at 1000oc releasing toxins in smoke; cigar smoke has 7,000 different chemicals in one stick of cigar, 70 known carcinogens harmful substances (tar, cadmium, lead, cyanide, nitrogen oxides, benzo (a) pyridine, carbon monoxide, vinyl chloride, acetaldehyde and damages tissues throughout the body, clogs arteries, causes blood clots bleeding.
The Programme Manager added that the economic cost of tobacco increase the burden of non-communicable diseases, increase the cost of provision of health care, annual health care; costs are higher for smokers, and the burden of these costs falls on families, the public purse, and employers\ insurances.
Mr. Sanjally Trawally, Deputy Director of Health Promotion and Education at the Health Ministry also said the 2016 Tobacco Control Act is considered one of the best tobacco acts.
He stressed that to control tobacco, “we the stakeholders are employing several strategies; and one of them is educating the masses. But we realize that educating people for them to understand the dangers associated with smoking will not be enough because no matter how you inform or educate them, they will not know”.
He concluded by saying that they want this to be sustainable. Dr. Joseph and Seyfo Singhateh also spoke at the presser.
