Time long past to pass Tobacco Control Bill

Dear Editor,
Russia, where almost half of the population smokes, is considering banning tobacco. Between 2001 and now, I have been urging a global ban of tobacco by 2040. We need to introduce a Tobacco Control Law in Guyana. We need to also increase tobacco taxation. The Government has unreasonably increased more than 200 taxes in 2016 and 2017, but inexplicably ignored tobacco.
In May 2001, as Guyana’s Health Minister, I committed to bringing a Tobacco Control Bill to Parliament. After much consultation and technical support to draft the Tobacco Bill, I was ready to introduce the Bill in 2009. The then Cabinet and President, Bharat Jagdeo, took into consideration the urgings of the Private Sector Commission, which thought that excluding the Tobacco Companies from consultations was unfair. It is true that the tobacco companies were excluded from the intense and comprehensive consultations. But that was because the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which Guyana was a signatory to, prohibits consultations with tobacco companies. The FCTC was the first and still the only global health treaty ever. Guyana was an early signatory and 2016 marked our 10th anniversary since becoming a part of the FCTC. To satisfy the Cabinet and the Private Sector, we started another round of consultations.
I explained to the private sector that I could not invite the Tobacco Companies. The private sector invited the General Manager of DEMTOCO to lead the private sector team to the consultations. In 2011, I prepared again to introduce the Bill. But Parliament was dissolved for elections. By 2012, I was shifted to the Agriculture Ministry and the new Health Minister decided to resume consultations. By the time he was ready to bring the Bill to Parliament, the Parliament was prorogued and subsequently dissolved for the 2015 elections.
I heard more than a dozen times that Ministers Norton and Cummings would be introducing the Bill at the “next meeting of Parliament”. But each time, the sitting comes and goes and nothing happens. This is a bipartisan issue. It affects all Guyanese, those who smoke and those who do not. I am again appealing to the new Public Health Minister to bring the Bill to Parliament. Let Parliament invite the public to make presentations. In the end, let Guyana have a Tobacco Control Bill. We have been dithering for too long. While we dither, more people are exposed and get sick.
I urge the Parliament to raise the tobacco tax. It is unconscionable that the Government has introduced or increased more than 200 new taxes, but did not touch tobacco. This is reprehensible. Tobacco is the world’s greatest extra-judicial killer. The United Nations have agreed on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for a better world by 2030. With the SDGs, there is specific recognition of the importance of the NCDs. This is encouraging. There is also recognition that tobacco is a killer and globally, we need collective action to reduce and eliminate the negative impacts of tobacco. Now that the SDG has embraced the goals of the FCTC, it is time we are more robust in our action to stop BIG TOBACCO. In this regards, we must strictly enforce our agreements in the FCTC to increase taxes on tobacco. Research has shown clearly that increased taxes do reduce tobacco use. I am hopeful that my earlier call to ban tobacco by 2040 will become a global initiative.

Sincerely,
Dr Leslie Ramsammy