Deal All:
Hopefully, this effort by the health ministry will once and for all
succeed in weaning our people off of tobacco. We recently discussed
teh issue of the potent gin sold in 100ml sachets that is killing our
people. I am happy to hear that the Ministry of health has finally
realized it has to put in place a national policy on the production
and consumption of alcohol.
I am very aware that tobacco is the only livelihood for many of our
farmers. We have time and again discussed and debated the tobacco
issue, its adverse impacts such as: taking the most productive lands
away from growing useful crops, environmental damage; and health of
the population involved in its production and consumption,
We hope this time our civil society organizations will join the
ministry of health in this overdue endeavour.
*****************************
Health ministry embarks on campaign against tobacco farmingPublish
Date: Jul 18, 2013
British America Tobacco Uganda workers sorting Tobacco leafnewvision
By Pascal Kwesiga
The Ministry of health has engaged the civil society and local leaders
to drive the campaign against tobacco farming.
A principal medical officer in charge of mental health, control of
substance abuse and management of neurological disorders, Dr. Sheila
Ndyanabangi said Wednesday health workers and leaders of civil society
organizations are currently traversing the tobacco growing districts
urging farmers to stop growing the crop.
“We have embarked on a new campaign to advice farmers to stop planting
tobacco. We have already been to West Nile where the crop is grown, we
are showing the farmer alternative crops,” Ndanabangi said during the
ongoing International Conference for Social Development at Speke
Resort Munyonyo hotel in Kampala.
She observed that although the trade agreements Uganda signed with the
World Trade Organization don’t allow the country to ban tobacco
growing, it’s allowed to persuade the farmers to stop growing the
crop.
Ndanabangi said that tobacco growing is responsible for the high
levels of deforestation and food shortage in families of farmers
engaged in growing the crop. “There are some families that have
concentrated in growing tobacco and they are always hit by famine. We
are telling them that they can be well off if they grow other crops
instead of tobacco,” she added.
The health ministry, she said would carry on the sensitization efforts
against tobacco growing until the farmers give up growing of the
highly “deadly” crop, adding “ We are also working with local leaders
and farmers have welcomed the idea but some may not stop growing
tobacco immediately because they have debts with tobacco companies,”
Ndyanabangi said the ministry was in the process of drafting a
national alcohol policy to regulate its production and consumption.
She blamed the increasing psychiatric cases in mental health
facilities to drug abuse. Ndyanabangi also partly blamed poverty among
the youth to drug abuse.
The conference that is attended by 200 doctors, scholars, educators,
policy makers, economists, demographers, researchers and social
scientists from 40 countries is hosted by Makerere University and
Simmons College in the United States. The two institutions won the bid
to host the conference two years ago.
Prof. Hugo Kamya from Simmons College said the overall aim of the
conference is to examine the emerging ideas in social development,
uncovering challenges and opportunities around the global and local
priorities, human rights, health and millennium development goals
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