By Mama A. Touray
Over fifteen journalists from different media houses in the Gambia last Monday attended a daylong dialogue on the tobacco control act, at the National Accreditation and Quality Assurance Authority, Kanifing.
The daylong dialogue was organized by Raid The Gambia in partnership with the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization Gambia Office.
The objective of the daylong dialogue was to build the capacity of journalists on tobacco control activities in the Gambia, such as the prevalence rate, health and economic implications, and the government response towards tobacco control.
Speaking at the dialogue, executive officer Raid The Gambia said the objective of Raid The Gambia amongst others is to raise awareness on the effects of tobacco and other illicit drugs and substance abuse in the society especially on youths, and to push strategies that control the malice.
He added that the objective of the meeting is to build the capacity of journalists to effectively contribute to the advocacy of the implementation of the tobacco control laws in the Gambia.
He however, highlighted the slow pace of implementation saying “The pace of implementation has been quite slow due to the number of factors such as weak government commitment, limited awareness of the population particularly youths, weak capacity of stakeholders for policy design and implementation, poor sustainability of the tobacco control efforts which Gambia is not an exception”.
He continued that WHO has announced that if no effort is made in fighting tobacco, in 2030 tobacco will kill more than other diseases in the world, adding that it is time to act and that there cannot be an act without the journalists.
For his part, Momodou Gassama, a representative of the World Health Organization said they have been battling with tobacco for about thirty-four years; adding that the fight has been on.
He said tobacco is a killer and is living in a world where malaria, and, tuberculosis are almost saying bye and our main problem in this world is non-communicable disease.
“Over fifty-seven million people die globally of different sicknesses but out of which forty-one million deaths are due to non-communicable disease which accumulates to seventy-four percent of all total deaths and tobacco alone kills over eight million people globally,” he told reporters.
Muhammed S Bah, President of the Gambia Press Union (GPU) said tobacco consumption is going high and it is a serious health emergency while urged journalists to help in the fight against tobacco by hosting shows related to tobacco and inviting guests that can help in the advocacy.
He added that since the enactment of the law, the media has not been doing a lot in the fight against tobacco consumption, stating that from this interaction journalists should champion the fight and advocacy.