NGO urge FG to regulate tobacco industry activities in the virtual space
A non-governmental organisation (NGO), Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has called on the Federal Government to regulate the activities of the tobacco industry in the country’s virtual space.
Executive director of CAPPA, Akinbode Oluwafemi, made the call in Abuja on Monday at the unveiling of a report, entitled “Tobacco Industry Capture of the Virtual Space in Nigeria.’’
Oluwafemi said that this had become necessary, as there were no elaborate safeguards in the National Tobacco Act, 2015 and the National Tobacco Control Regulations, 2019, in relation to the tobacco industry’s activities in the virtual space.
“It is thus important for tobacco control advocates, policymakers and state authorities in Nigeria to note these challenges and realities in order to counter and expose the tobacco industry’s dominance of the virtual space,’’ he said.
Read Also: Tobaacco: Federal Government Launches Control Website
Read Also:
The CAPPA chief said that the report examined Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and a host of other social networking platforms used by over 100 million Nigerians between 2016 and 2021. He added that it found that the tobacco industry and its charity arms operated unchecked in the virtual space and used it to gain favourable public rating, while mentioning nothing about the harms of their products.
According to him, this should be done in line with Article 5.3 of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in providing effective protection from public and workplace exposure to tobacco smoking.
“Government should enforce penalties for Tobacco Advertising Promotion and Sponsorships (TAPS) and tobacco control violations, in compliance and accordance with the national tobacco control and policy.
“It should also revoke all ministries, departments and agencies’ collaboration with the tobacco industry and its front groups,’’ he said.
SOURCE: Business Day
