06 Dec 2017

The executive director of Anti-Tobacco Network (ANT), Dr Bontle Mbongwe has urged stakeholders to assist government in the fight on tobacco control as it could not achieve control on its own.

Speaking at an anti-tobacco panel discussion recently hosted by the Anti-Tobacco Network, Dr Mbongwe said there was a lot that needed to be done to ensure that the fight against tobacco was won, and that engaging stakeholders and the public  was key to winning the fight.

She said the government had shown commitment through the signing of the Framework Convention of Tobacco Control which needed to be implemented. She added that everyone needed to get on board and help in the fight.

She called on affected parties to stand up against companies in the tobacco industry which she said pushed for policies that seemed to “accommodate” smoking in public spaces and expose non-smokers to the dangers of second-hand smoking.

“We are fighting a war that is perpetuated by the rich tobacco companies. The tobacco industry is full of intelligent people; therefore we also need to be intelligent to deal with this industry. We have reached to the nation about the dangers brought about by tobacco through smoking of cigarettes and they expect us to act on this and so we should,” she said.

The panel discussion saw panelists discuss diverse issues in relation to tobacco use and its effects on different aspects of life.

Dr Lucky Odirile of University of Botswana explained that tobacco use had an adverse impact on relations between people and marriages, especially when one of the parties was smoking while the other wasn’t.

She said the other partner tolerated the habit of “their significant other, but only up to a certain point when that tolerance dies.”

She said that could bring conflicts and stress which might ultimately bring tension in the relationship resulting in the demise of that relationship.

For his part, the director of Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Botswana, Mr Buyani Zongwane said it was the role of the media to disseminate information to all stakeholders, and that they took part in the fight on tobacco control.

He said the media was responsible for holding those stakeholders accountable for their actions with regards to tobacco control.

“The media has a great power of setting the agenda on what should be of public interest, so I urge all media practitioners to make use of this role and make sure that tobacco control stories take precedence,” he said.ENDS