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Contact:
John Emmanuel
Wednesday, November 09, 2005 - The Saint Lucia House of Assembly has
approved the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Bill, which creates the
necessary social environment for the implementation of the convention signed in
2004. The decision means the Government of Saint Lucia has given it official
legal backing to the World Health Organization (WHO) Convention dealing with the
control of tobacco and the effects resulting from its use
Minister for Minister Health, Human Services, Family Affairs and Gender
Relations Honourable Damian Greaves, says smoking of cigarettes and its
resultant second hand smoke have become major public health issues around the
world. Statistics from the WHO indicate that tobacco use results in the death of
one person every six seconds. In the Caribbean region, figures from the Pan
American Health Organization (PAHO) reveal that 5,600 persons die each year from
tobacco related diseases.
Minister Greaves says the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Bill
contain measures that addresses tobacco use, cross border issues like tobacco
taxation, advertising restrictions and the control of second hand smoke. In
piloting the Bill, he told the House, “It is the right of people to ensure that
their social space or their air space is not encroached upon simple because
people think they can stand up anywhere and smoke.”
Addressing members of the House of Assembly last week, the Member of Parliament
for Dennery South Hon. Greaves says, “In as much as there is a tendency to
suggest that it is my right as an individual to smoke, it does not take away
from the right of the other person who does not want to be a victim of the
inhalation of second hand smoke and thus become a victim of cancer or any other
diseases as a result of second hand smoke.”
Locally, statistics from the Saint Lucia Cancer Society reveal that 14 percent
of students from grades 6-9 and forms 1-4 have used some kind of tobacco
product. The Society says several of the cancer cases diagnosed on the island
like cancer of the bladder, kidney, pancreas, liver, stomach and mouth are
associated with smoking and tobacco use.
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