While the World No Tobacco Day is celebrated each May 31, Health professionals in Burundi say they are worried about the increase in number of smokers in Burundi especially young people. They however say they salute the initiative taken by the government to considerably reduce the number of smokers.
Innocent Nkurunziza: “Tobacco smoking is increasing in Burundi”.
Innocent Nkurunziza, Director of the department of non communicable diseases at the health ministry says tobacco smoking is increasing in Burundi. He bases this on medical researches carried out in different schools, at the University of Burundi and in different institutions. “Some researches done by medical students at the end of their studies show that the numbers of smokers varies from 12 to 15% in school environment while it is over 23% in different institutions,” says Nkurunziza.
He says some provinces are the most affected. “For example, a research that was conducted in Kirundo province in 2013 showed a smoking prevalence rate of 20%.”
Nkurunziza says MPs have recently adopted a law regulating tobacco consumption in Burundi. If the law is promulgated, it will help to significantly reduce the number of smokers especially passive ones. “The law contains a number of measures to greatly reduce the smoking rate in Burundi. Some of those measures include increasing taxes on tobacco, prohibiting smoking in public places and forbidding tobacco advertisement. Once the law is implemented, it will visibly reduce the number of smokers,” he says.
Jérôme Ndaruhutse, who represented World Health Organization, has said many people are not aware that smoking has harmful effects on their health. “Nearly 900 thousand non-smokers die due to passive smoking”.
He says the government of Burundi should implement without delay a law that protects non-smokers and helps smokers stop doing so easily.
IWACU Open Data
