Government urged to ban tobacco advertising, promotion and Sponsorship
Tobacco Control Stakeholders in Uganda today joined the rest of the world to mark World No Tobacco Day, under the theme, ‘ Ban tobacco advertising promotion and sponsorship’. Today’s activities were a culmination of a week long series of activities where stakeholders sensitized the public about the dangers of tobacco and why they should not be deceived by the misleading adverts of the tobacco industry.
Today’s activities started off with a ‘No Tobacco Procession’ which was flagged from the Ministry of Health by the WHO Country Representative to Uganda Dr. Wondimagegnehu Alemu and the CTCA Director/ Dean Makerere University School of Public Health, Prof. William Bazeyo.
The procession was followed by a symposium at the Grand Imperial Hotel in Kampala where the need for tobacco control was stressed by WHO’s Prof. Robert Machangu, and specifically, the urgent need to control tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship ( TAPS.) The Centre Director, Prof. William Bazeyo haled the political support to tobacco control initiatives including enacting the Bill, as well as increasing tobacco taxes so as to make it unaffordable to majority of the young people. The MOH Tobacco Control Focal Person, Dr. Sheila Ndyanabangi gave highlights of Article 13 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which focuses on banning TAPS. She explained to the participants the various aspects of tobacco advertising and sponsorship and the various tactics of the industry.