'Tobacco Kills over 4.8m Annually'
By Godwin Haruna

THISDAYOnline.com (Nigeria)
February 27, 2004

A group of anti-tobacco activists from the United States and Canada currently visiting the country have stated that records from World Health Organisation (WHO) shows that over 4.8 million people worldwide die yearly as a result of tobacco use.

They regretted that tobacco companies worldwide are licensed to kill their customers for profits.

Addressing the press in Lagos, recently, Mr. David Walling, a director of Reality Check stated that since most people around the world were becoming aware of the dangers inherent in smoking, the companies have devised various strategies to woo the youths in the developing countries.

He said the statistics of deaths recorded from tobacco was more than the cumulative annual death toll from HIV/AIDS, murder and vehicular accidents worldwide.

Walling, who stated that his state of New York in the United States achieved "Tobacco-free status" through various anti-tobacco protests and an eventual legislation against it, advised the civil society in Nigeria to adopt similar measures to halt the dangers of addiction to tobacco smoking.

The group, who have been touring various parts of the country, revealed that they were alarmed to learn in a remote village in Oyo State that tobacco farmers are deceived into producing the raw materials for a pittance.

Another member of the team, Anna White said deformed sperm studies have shown that smoking alters the characteristic buildup (DNA) of the sperm adding that "low sperm counts and other causative factors of infertility in men, have been traced to smoking".

White stated that the substance also causes stomach ulcer, lung cancer, tooth decay, discoloured fingers, cataract and other related ailments.

Mr. Akinbode Oluwafemi, a tobacco control advocate in Nigeria, stated that local farmers in the country, who were barred from speaking to them initially, later told them that the companies were procuring the raw materials from them through dubious means and paying them pittance.

For instance, Oluwafemi said the tobacco companies lied to the farmers that government had banned their produce and that they were only helping them by inducing them to continue in their occupations.

The group called on the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration Control (NAFDAC) to regulate the consumption of tobacco in the country just like they do to other consumables.

They also urged the Federal Government to sign the treaty on the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC), which many African countries have already signed.