Banjul, 21 February 2014 -- The Ministry of Health & Social Welfare in collaboration with the World Lung Foundation in New York, and with the technical support of the WHO Country Office, launched on Wednesday, 19 February 2014, the first-ever national mass mediacampaign to warn people about the harmful effects of tobacco.

Intended to show the harmful effects of tobacco, the campaign uses two spots: ‘Cigarettes Are Eating You Alive’ and “Coughing Child”. These will be aired on radio stations and displayed on billboards in all regions of the country for eight weeks.

Launching the event at Paradise Suites Hotel, the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Honourable Alhaji Omar Sey, thanked the World Lung Foundation for sponsoring this event and the World Health Organization for all its support to tobacco control in the Gambia. He said that the event was timely as tobacco consumption, particularly among adults, is on the increase in the country. He noted that, on average, an adult male Gambian aged 25 – 64 years smokes about 10 sticks of cigarettes a day. To curb this alarming rate of tobacco consumption, the Minister said that it is the responsibility of all Gambians to implement a smoke-free Gambia. He therefore challenged the newly created health promotion directorate to work with all stakeholders to bring this into fruition.

For his part, the WHO Representative, Dr Charles Sagoe-Moses, congratulated the Ministry of Health on launching this event, describing it as a demonstration of the Gambia’s commitment to implementing Article 12 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) which urges Parties to promote and strengthen public awareness of tobacco control issues, using all available communication tools, as appropriate. He also commended the Gambia for taking several other initiatives in support of tobacco control, which include the two anti-tobacco laws banning smoking in public places and tobacco advertisement in the media as well as the ratification of the WHO FCTC in 2007.

In addition to the Gambian context, as alluded to by the Honourable Minister, Dr Sagoe-Moses said that tobacco use is a global public health concern which is among the leading preventable causes of death. “Each year, the global tobacco epidemic kills nearly 6 million people, including more than 600,000 who die from exposure to second-hand smoke. It is on track to kill more than 8 million by 2030, by which time approximately 80% of the deaths would occur in low- and middle-income countries”, Dr Sagoe-Moses reiterated.

A former parliamentarian and author of the 1998 anti-smoking bill, Mr Idrissa Samba, renewed his commitment to tobacco control, appealing to the WHO and Ministry of Health to support him with posters and other advocacy/communication materials to do so.

The event was attended by both print and electronic media organs in the country. To kick start the process, journalists were briefed on the tobacco control situation in the country followed by a presentation on the two spots prepared for the campaign.

For more details please contact:

Mr. Momodou Gassama, Health Promotion Officer
—9331961 Ext. 30805, Office: 00220 4462283/84/86

Mr. George Williams—Health Information Assistant
—9900248 Ext.30808

The WHO Gambia Office,
New Kotu Layout P.M.B 170, Banjul, The GAMBIA