A cigarette production unit. FILE PHOTO | NMG
Cigarette manufacturers may need to change tact if the push by
industry players to promote alternative products such as electronic
cigarettes to reduce the harm caused by tobacco-smoking succeeds.
Industry
stakeholders say a new generation of alternative tobacco products could
offer a breakthrough in harm reduction, appealing to smokers at a time
when anti-smoking campaigns are not cutting through.
Leadership
Impact Dynamics founder Ade Adeyam said stakeholders in the industry
must offer alternative products as a tool to help stop smoking.
“We
believe we can have a big impact on public health by promoting
alternatives to smoking cigarettes,” said Ms Adeyami. “Given the
undisputed harm caused by cigarettes on human health, the potential
negative impacts of e-cigarettes certainly pale by comparison as there
is no tar in e-cigarettes.” Ms Adeyami was speaking during the Tobacco
Harm Reduction: Towards a Smoke Free World conference in Naivasha last
week.
The
conference, which had representations from 14 African countries, sought
to identify ways to adopt and promote reduced-risk alternatives aimed
at accelerating the transition out of harmful tar-based cigarettes while
tackling the Sustainable Development Goal on good health and wellbeing.
Data
from the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that over a billion
people smoke cigarettes, and this number is projected to remain largely
unchanged by 2025.
Out of this, nearly 31,000 Kenyans
aged 30 and above and about seven million people globally die from
effects of tobacco every year. This makes tobacco use one of the biggest
public health threats the world has ever faced, according to WHO.
Dr
Tendai Kadenhe Mhizha, a lecturer at the University of Pretoria, said
e-cigarettes do not contain tar that is harmful to many humans, but
still offers rituals of smoking that consumers have become accustomed to
and value.
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