The Federal Government has partnered with the Development Gateway to launch the Tobacco Control Data Initiative (TCDI), a virtual (web-based) dashboard.
This, it said, is part of efforts to eliminate the consumption of tobacco, especially by direct and second-hand smokers. The dashboard, which can be assessed on www.nigeria. tobaccocontroldata.org, contains authentic information on prevalence, taxation issues, harm, illicit trade, industry interference in tobacco use, and the use of shisha. It can also be used as an advocacy tool for stakeholders in the tobacco community to make decisions on policies.
At this year’s commemoration of the World No Tobacco Day, the Minister of State for Health, Dr Olorunnimbe Mamora said it has increased the tax on cigarettes from 20 per cent to 30 per cent this year, to dissuade Nigerians from consuming them.
He said: “From the 2012 Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS), 5.6 per cent (4.5 million) Nigerians from 15 years and older currently use tobacco products of which 3.9 per cent (3.1 million) are current smokers. The result also found high and significant exposure to second-hand smoke (SHS) during visits to public places.
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“The Tobacco Atlas 6th Edition estimates that more than 26,800 annual deaths occur from tobacco-related diseases in Nigeria. Similarly, a report of studies by the Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa, which was published last year, said that 29,472 deaths in Nigeria were attributable to smoking.”
The Country Lead of Development Gateway, an IREX Venture, Seember Ali said: “This project is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and is being implemented in Nigeria and seven other countries.
“The data is a one-stop-shop that has everything that stakeholders working in the tobacco control space will need to be able to make decisions for the advocacy for tobacco control and be able to make proper policy engagements in a way that supports the tobacco control works that the Federal Ministry of Health has already been doing.”
The Executive Director of Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), Akinbode Oluwafemi, added: “The dashboard is a milestone in tobacco control in Nigeria.
As an advocate for tobacco control for close to 30 years, one of the biggest challenges we have had is getting the local data to move policy to be able to engage policymakers and the government.”