17th February, 2014
By Rasak Musbau
The Lagos State House of Assembly is a good case study of how the legislative arm of government can serve as tool for social engineering. From the child’s right law, building control law, tenancy law, law against illegal trading at unauthorised places to the Lagos traffic law, Lagos state has used emphasis of laws as a means of controlling and regulating unhealthy public conduct. Presently, the House has gone ahead to settle once and for all the face-off between public health activists and pro-tobacco lobbyists by passing the Anti-smoking Bill on Monday, 20 January, 2014.
As one of the most common and unhealthy of human habits, smoking, generally in public, had been regarded as a personal choice that bystanders had little control over. Now, for the first time and in the first state in Nigeria, the act of public smoking will be regulated when assent is given to the bill. Smokers will still be available to freely smoke in their own homes, in privacy, still able to enjoy themselves while bystanders will be protected from risks associated with smoking.
Tobacco use is said to have killed at least one billion people worldwide this century, with 10 million lives estimated to die by 2020 and 70 percent of these deaths to occur in developing nations, Nigeria inclusive. According to the World Health Organisation, WHO, second-hand smoke contributes to over 600,000 deaths per year, from causing conditions such as serious cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. WHO, however, concluded that 300 million deaths from tobacco could be prevented in the next 50 years by cutting adult cigarette consumption in half worldwide.
For years it has been the opinion of many health professionals, tobacco control advocates like Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance that eliminating cigarette smoking is one of the most important things that could be done to improve the health of the people.
If the risk factor of public smoking is assessed, there is no doubt that only a handful of pro-tobacco beneficiaries will question the appropriateness of the proposed new law. Meanwhile, while still awaiting the governor’s assent, it is important to start educating the masses on purposes the law is aimed to serve as one cannot rule out protest and dis-information by lobbyists opposed to the law.
Whereas the effects of other self-indulgent, personally harmful behaviours, are more singularly linked to the participant, the injurious effects of smoking in public spill over into other people’s lives with a more consistent, tangible, and (sometimes) permanent impact. This proposed new law is to protect secondhand smokers from injurious effects of smoking in public places and save government cost of treating patients with tobacco related ailments. In summary, the law is coming out to protect public interest which is what good governance is all about.
Smoking of cigarettes is known to increase the risk of death and disease from lung cancer, from chronic obstructive lung disease such as emphysema, and from heart disease. Secondhand smoke exposure is clearly linked with negative outcomes on one’s health. While the exact degree of the harm is still debated, it’s increasingly harder to make a case that second-hand smoke causes no significant injury to the breather – especially over longer periods of time. From cancer to heart disease, the scientific evidence has mounted for decades now.
In 2006, a study carried out in 11 state’s owned hospitals in Lagos State revealed that the state spent at least N216,000 per patient in treating anyone with a tobacco-related ailment with the patient spending at least an additional N70,000 from his own pocket. The study also found out that a minimum of 9,500 persons are treated per year for smoking related ailments. One wonders what the current statistics are, eight years after.
According to experts , tobacco contains more than 4,000 chemicals, including at least 69 of which causes cancer. It is these chemicals that cause serious diseases, including lung cancer, heart disease, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), low birth weight and serious respiratory conditions. Scientific evidence is also clear that the only effective way to protect the public from second-hand smoke is to enact 100 percent smoke-free laws that cover all indoor workplaces and public places, including restaurants, bars and other hospitality venues.
It is evident that introducing this ban that prohibits smoking in public would benefit Lagosians greatly. Prohibiting public smoking has lots of benefits. For one, it protects anyone who doesn’t smoke, especially kids, to avoid second-hand smoke. It equally helps in ensuring that public places become less toxic. Additionally, it reduces the effect of air pollution while bystanders won’t have to worry about their health. Perhaps, more importantly, it reduces the possibility of bystanders contracting smoke related diseases and hazards.
In the case of cigarette smoke odour, the undesirable, palpable effects linger for some time after one has left the immediate area of the smoke. A smoking ban antagonist might simply argue that “it is their choice and right”, but which is more important – the insistence on smoking in public or health of the non-smoking populace? Furthermore, if smoking becomes “legally wrong” in the eyes of society, it may also deter the younger population from embracing the habit. One is sure that many parents would not be delighted at the thought of their child lighting up, so portraying smoking in this negative light may encourage youths to appeal to their morals, and curb any possible habits beginning.
Tobacco control advocates like Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance, a coalition of groups and individuals united in their fight against “Big Tobacco”, deserve applause for providing critical support along the way. Hopefully other state Houses of Assembly will follow suit while the National Assembly will pass the Tobacco Control Bill.
One is of the sincere view that the proposed law will do a lot of good to public health in the state as it would help to reduce the prevalence of smoking related health risks. On a final note, I would love to close with the words of Kenny Davidson, Mayor, Buckhannon, WV, USA: “all of us know, that smoking is not good for us. We’ve been told that for years. I have some concerns about personal freedoms, but I think as a non-smoker, I have a right not to breathe in second hand smoke.”
•Musbau is of the Features Unit, Lagos State Ministry of Information and Strategy.