Ghana Can Do Better In Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index – VALD Report

Business news for Tuesday, November 17, 2020

Source: VALD Ghana

2020-11-17

The Vision for Alternative Development (VALD) is very concerned about the continued existence of tobacco industry interference in public health policies in Ghana. There is no doubt that the industry uses various tactics to influence policy in its favor, putting people’s lives at risk.

Unfortunately, most countries, including Ghana, have not fully addressed and managed this interference quickly to protect the lives of citizens despite being signatories to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). WHO) in 2004.

In a recent report ranking the global tobacco industry interference index, Ghana scored 58, while Uganda, Peru, and the United Kingdom scored 30 to 39. This means that the level of industry interference in Ghana it is higher than in countries that were below 39. “The lower the score, the better or less interference from the industry.” Globally, tobacco industry interference has been widely shown to be a major affront to government attempts to implement Article 5.3 of the WHO FCTC.

In Ghana, the tobacco industry has benefited and continues to benefit from government actions over the years. For example, the government made a statement to ban the use of shisha in 2018, but this has not yet gone into effect; a call from the Ghana Health Service to ban the use of tobacco products in Ghanaian films has not yet entered into force; travelers (diplomats) are allowed large quantities of tobacco products duty-free in the country; There is a laxity on the part of the Ghanaian government to increase taxes on tobacco and tobacco-related products despite calls from civil society organizations in the country. It has been observed that the government has not made any policy attempts to increase taxes on tobacco products for six years (2015-2020), a situation that serves as an incentive to promote the business of the tobacco industry. These are indications that government policies support or benefit the commercial activities of the tobacco industry in the country.

The report also revealed that the government does not disclose its meetings with the tobacco industry or any form of engagement with the tobacco industry because there is no specific regulation specifying disclosure of meetings. However, the Tobacco Industry Regulations, LI 2247 under industry interference stipulates that any interaction between the tobacco industry and the regulator must be strictly limited to tobacco control and enforcement.

The report also revealed that there is no strict ban on tobacco industry contributions to governments and their agencies, although the Public Health Act 2012 under sponsorship indicates that a “person must not initiate or participate in any form of sponsorship of the tobacco”. Since the passage of the Tobacco Control Act in 2012, Ghana has not developed a code of conduct for public officials in dealing with the tobacco industry in accordance with Article 5.3 of the WHO FCTC. Gaps in policy and legislation have the potential to actively promote interference from the tobacco industry.

Although the high burden of tobacco use is a global concern and historically perceived as a public health problem for high-income countries (HICs), recent evidence suggests that low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) are now seen disproportionately affected by high tobacco content. related morbidity and mortality.

Evidence in other jurisdictions has pointed to the tobacco industry’s activities to prevent or delay the implementation of the WHO FCTC and local laws and policies in individual countries.

Although Ghana’s score is not bad, VALD recommends that the government:
• You should take steps to improve transparency in your engagement with the tobacco industry, including publicizing any registries of lobbyists in the country who act in the interest of the tobacco industry.

• Require the tobacco industry through policy development to publicly report or declare its CSR initiatives in the country, as this is currently not available in the public domain.

• Full disclosure in the media or the website of all activities, including income and profits, tax exemptions or any privileges received by the tobacco industry

• Develop a code of conduct to guide your agencies and officials in engaging the tobacco industry.

• Develop programs to regularly train or educate officials and agencies on Article 5.3 of the FCTC. These programs will equip them with the knowledge necessary to avoid becoming a victim of tobacco industry activities or inadvertently facilitating the tobacco industry’s activities to undermine tobacco control policies in the country.

• Instructs the Ministry of Finance to periodically review the price of tobacco products, tax regimes, and propose an appropriate measure to effectively regulate affordability and access to tobacco products.