31 Oct 2022

The ministry of health has awarded grants from the Tobacco Levy to 11 to Non-Governmental and Community Based Organisations (NGOs and CBOs) to accelerate public education and awareness on effects of tobacco use. 

Speaking during the grant award ceremony in Gaborone recently, the deputy permanent secretary of Health Services, Dr Tshepo Machacha, said the collaboration was in a bid to protect Batswana from tobacco use, adding that the battle could only be won through collaborative efforts.

Dr Machacha said the Tobacco and Tobacco Products Fund Order, was established to support the tobacco control initiatives in Botswana, adding that it was one of the very few of its kind globally.

He said for the 2022/23 funding cycle, the ministry had identified and prioritised tobacco control initiatives that included awareness, treatment and rehabilitation, as informed by the Botswana Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) of 2017, which revealed that 83.9 per cent of current tobacco smokers planned or were thinking of quitting.

He said the survey revealed that only seven per cent were able to stop the use of tobacco, which he said meant that a significant number of smokers must be assisted to stop the use of tobacco, hence the need to provide for treatment and rehabilitation.

Dr Machacha further said the Botswana GATS of 2017, also revealed that 65.5 per cent of smokers accessed anti-smoking information on television and radio, while 49.9 per cent accessed it from magazines and newspapers. 

He said the ministry had since realised a growing number of patients turning up at its facilities with Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), adding that tobacco use had been scientifically proven to be one of the major risk factors of NCDs. He therefore said reducing tobacco use played a major role in global efforts to achieve the SDG target to reduce premature death from NCDs by one third by the year 2030. He further stated that World Health Organisation (WHO) reports that 80 per cent of the world’s smokers were in the low- and middle-income countries, where the burden of mortality and morbidity caused by smoking was increasingly felt, ‘and Botswana is no exception.’

Dr Machacha said since 1993, some legislations were announced to help address health challenges posed by harmful use of tobacco, highlighting that Botswana also signed and ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in 2003 and 2005 respectively, with a view to further strengthen control measures for tobacco use in the country.

He said that development of regulations to facilitate the commencement of the Tobacco Control Act of 2021, were at an advanced stage, anticipated to be completed soon, so that the new tobacco law could take effect by April 2023.

“The legislation is premised on the principles of reduction of demand and regulation of supply of tobacco products, which should result in unavailability and inaccessibility of these harmful tobacco products,” revealed Dr Machacha.

He indicated that government had recorded some successful efforts on tobacco control initiatives through the adoption of multi stakeholder approaches, including collaborations and partnerships with WHO, Civil Society Organizations and CBOs.

Among those that received grants were, Men for Health and Gender Justice, Botswana Council of Churches, Botswana Red Cross Society, Ultimate Youth with Destiny, Social Dialogue Organisation, Class Volunteers Organisation, Botswana Substance Abuse Support Network, Botswana Council of Non-Government Organisations, Mothers Union Orphan Care Centre and Men &Boys for Gender Equality.  ENDS