FDA tobacco regulation: Can Nigeria follow suit?
SIR: Recently the United States Senate in an almost unanimous vote, passed a legislation that gives the Food and Drug Administration the authority to regulate tobacco products as well as monitor its production, marketing and distribution.
In response to this historic feat, the President of the United States of America, Barack Obama said, "It will make history by giving the scientists and medical experts at the FDA the power to take sensible steps that will reduce tobacco's harmful effects and prevent tobacco companies from marketing their products to children." The bill which passed on a vote of 79-17 has the full backing of the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association which have been on the fight for such a legislation for the past 15 years. Eventually, all the efforts at reducing the nicotine level in tobacco products has paid off with the passage of this bill.
According to Gregg Haifley, a Senior Associate of Federal Relations at the American Cancer Society's Cancer Action Network, "This is an historic piece of public health legislation that will rein in a rogue industry that has basically operated unfettered in its production and marketing of poisonous deadly products." The bill also requires manufacturers of tobacco products to register with the FDA and provide the FDA with a comprehensive, detailed list of all their products.
What is strikingly startling is the fact that more than 400,000 Americans die from tobacco-related diseases annually. Although we may not have accurate statistics on how many people die from it in Nigeria but I know, the situation in Nigeria is no less disturbing than the situation in America, hence the need and urgency to do without delay, what the American Congress has done.
Nigeria does not have the capacity in terms of health facilities to tackle adequately the menace posed by tobacco consumption and must save her ignorant smoker-citizens the pain of untimely death and cancer this product causes. The whole world is moving on the fast lane of checking and curbing avoidable deaths and we must not be left behind. There must be a vigorous campaign to sensitise the public on the dangers of smoking and consumption of other tobacco products and it is high time the government intervened in regulating the nicotine level of tobacco products manufactured in Nigeria or imported into Nigeria.
Now that the American Congress has taken this bold step, tobacco manufacturers will begin to shift their market targets to the Third World countries and the only way to check the infiltration of our country with unwholesome tobacco products rejected in America is to adopt a similar measure.
Our National Assembly men must realise that being a Senator or a Representative is more than fighting for constituency project money or embarking on a foreign jamboree. They owe the people they represent the duty to make laws that positively impact on their lives, laws that ensure the enhancement of their health status. Nigerians including the President have shown concern about the number of bills passed into law so far by the National Assembly and the value of such bills in terms of their direct bearing and effect on the well-being of citizens of Nigeria.
It is time for the National Assembly to wake up to their responsibilities and start doing what is beneficial to the generality of Nigerians especially the endangered species like smokers even if the move to help them is unpopular among them.
Kingsley Ogbuji,
Texas, USA.
