Muk students takes lead in sensitising public on tobacco smoking

Sep 26, 2016

An Epidemiologist at the Ministry of Health Daniel Kadobera recently said out of five youth one uses smokeless tobacco especially Kuber

Makerere University environmental health students have come up with an initiative to sensitize communities about the dangers of Tobacco smoking. This was after they realised that majority of people are ignorant about the effects of Tobacco to their lives.

Speaking while commemorating the World Environmental health day at Makerere University, the students said that they have started sensitising the residents of Kampala and thereafter will move to districts.

'We are doing this because the community is not aware about the dangers of smoking , that is why people smoke in poorly ventilated areas , congested places ,this proves that the public is not aware about the dangers of smoking,' the president Makerere University Environmental Health Students Association  (MUEHSA) Tadeo Tumusiime said.

He advised the public to ban Tobacco smoking because it damages the body organs and sometimes kills.At least 13,500 people die annually in Uganda due to Tobacco related illness a recent survey for Adults and youths has revealed. Statistics show that 60 percent of mouth and stomach cancers are due to Tobacco.

An Epidemiologist at the Ministry of Health Daniel Kadobera recently said out of five youth one uses smokeless tobacco especially Kuber . Smokeless tobacco includes chewing, sniffing, placing the product between the teeth and gum, or application to the skin among others .In Adults out of ten one of them smokes Tobacco while 20 % of youths use tobacco.

 

The public health specialist at the Ministry of Water and Environment David Semwanga has warned Tobacco companies to stop employing young people . 'Although we do not have statistics of the children employed by these companies we know they are many and we are cautioning these companies to stop the act,' Semwanga said.

The Tobacco control Act came into force early this year. The law prohibits smoking in public places, workplaces and means of public transport. The Tobacco Control Act provides for several guidelines among them, a tobacco smoke free environment by prohibiting smoking in all public places, workplaces, means of transport and other outdoor space within 50metres of a public place.   The law bars young people below the age of 21 from engaging in any Tobacco related work.

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