The World Health Organization ( WHO) in conjunction with the Center for Disease Control ( CDC) will soon release guidelines on mainstreaming tobacco Control into Reproductive Health. This was revealed by Dr. Vinayak Prasad from WHO Headquarters, during a meeting with Dr. Janex M. Kabarangira, the Program Management Specialist/ Team Leader Health of the United States Agency for International Development ( USAID), on March 22.
The meeting was part of CTCA/WHO’s sustained effort to explore ways of working with development partners on mainstreaming Non-Communicable Diseases ( NCDs) into their development agenda with a focus on tobacco control as a key risk factor.
Dr. Vinayak stressed that there is an urgent need to integrate tobacco control in all health interventions due to the increasing evidence of how tobacco affects not just NCDs, but communicable diseases as well. He cited an example of Tuberclosis saying that there is proof to show that if TB patients continue to use tobacco, their chances of dying are increased. He said estimates indicate that there will be an extra 40 million TB deaths by 2025 globally if nothing is done to control tobacco use among TB patients.
On reproductive Health, Dr. Vinayak noted that 65% of the 600,000 deaths that occur due to second hand smoke exposure globally take place among women and children annually. This, he said, is not just alarming but unacceptable, adding that this is one of the reasons why WHO and CDC have developed guidelines to help mainstream tobacco Control in Reproductive Health.
Prof. Robert Machang’u, WHO AFRO, said that the UN has come up with an integrated approach to tobacco because tobacco has become a development issue since it clearly goes beyond health. He said tobacco growing for instance impacts the farmer greatly in as far as it keeps them in a vicious cycle of poverty, coupled with food insecurity. He said the involvement of women and children in the tobacco farms also creates a significant impact in terms of gender as well as child rights, adding that children are reported to drop out of school to work on the tobacco farms. Prof. Machang’u said WHO would like to appeal to USAID and other Development Partners to include tobacco control in their agenda because once this is done, it will help address the major NCDs.
The Manager of the Centre, Dr. Possy Mugyenyi cited a recent study which has revealed that when pregnant women are exposed to second hand smoke, their unborn babies can easily acquire meningococcal disease, a major cause of morbidity and mortality in children. Dr. Mugyenyi further explained that even on the economic angle, tobacco is a key competitor with other basic household needs like health and education. He noted that a 2011 study by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics ( UBOS) revealed that in 2012, Ugandan Households spent 357 billion shillings on tobacco products alone, money which could be used to meet other house hold needs.
Finally Dr. Mugyenyi stressed that given the unfolding evidence that links tobacco use to not just NCDs but to communicable diseases as well, the CTCA feels that all Partners should contribute towards reducing the risks attributed to escalating other diseases due to tobacco use.
USAID’s Janex Kabarangira thanked the team for the initiative to bring USAID on Board. She informed them that her Organization supports projects through government plans for instance the Health Sector Strategic Plan ( HSSP), adding that at the national level, tobacco control could be integrated into the advocacy program. She said USAID has three development objectives which include; Democracy and Governance, Economic Growth, Food Security and Agriculture, as well as Health, HIV /AIDS and Education. She noted that from the evidence provided, tobacco control is clearly relevant to all these objectives and pledged to arrange for another forum to sensitize all the USAID Programs.