Save Third World Countries from Aggressive Tobacco Promotion

Photo: Steve Holt Stockpix.com

The WHO, Tech Report 695 of 1983 observed that "25-35% of males between the ages of 18-20 yrs are already addicted to cigarette smoking in the world's most populous nations of India and China".

The richer western nations are bringing pressure to bear on tobacco companies through strong and tough legislations and heavy fines. Indeed, tobacco companies are selling fewer cigarettes in their home bases. The September issue of the British Medical Journal (BMJ 2002; 325:616), confirmed the approval of "tougher restrictions on the manufacture, presentation, and sale of cigarettes" by the European Court in Luxembourg against the world's largest tobacco companies.

It is disappointing to note that the British-American Tobacco Company, one of the largest tobacco companies in the world, has recently opened the largest tobacco factory in Africa's most populous nation, Nigeria!

It is already established that tobacco use is responsible for over 95% of lung cancer in the world. Could anyone imagine what will happen in another 20-25 years when the current millions of newly recruited smokers in the so-called third world countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America develop tobacco-related cancers and other diseases?

—Dr. MA Durosinmi
Consultant Haematologist
Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital
Ile-Ife, Nigeria