Lesotho commemorates World No Tobacco Day
World No Tobacco Day was commemorated on May 31st in Thaba-Bosiu, Maseru District, under a very timely and relevant theme for Lesotho :
“Ban Tobacco Advertising, Promotion and Sponsorship”.
To demonstrate that Lesotho does not need to rely on the tobacco industry to run events, the Ministry of Health, with support from the World Health Organization, organized a sports tournament for the youth of the area. Key health messages on the dangers of tobacco use were shared routinely with the crowd throughout the tournament.
Multitudes of school children, teachers and the community members from Thaba-Bosiu and the surrounding areas began the commemoration of World No Tobacco Day 2013 with a march of solidarity to express their support. The marchers carried banners and placards, displaying this year’s theme, to spread the key message for the day- ‘Free yourself’. The tournament was then opened with some key speeches, from the Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization and Blue Cross.
In her opening statement, Mrs Nkareng Mosala, National Tobacco Officer at the Ministry of Health, explained that for this year No Tobacco Day, the Ministry of Health has provided a lovely potted flower to representatives as a symbolic promotion of a healthy person, to transmit a message to all tobacco users that just like flowers need to be looked after, so too must we look after our own health.
Dr. Esther Aceng delivered a keynote speech on behalf of the WHO Representative Lesotho, during which she emphasized that behind the days fun games there was a strong message. She stressed that we were all there to highlight the dangers and health risks associated with tobac-co use and to understand the need for a ban on Tobacco.
Dr. Aceng also shared a message from the WHO Regional Director, Dr. Luis G. Sambo, during which he urged ‘Member States to take concrete steps to ensure that any form of recommendation or action commercial communication aimed at promoting a tobacco product directly or indirectly is banned’.
Lesotho is in the process of finalizing a Draft Tobacco Bill and the work done so far was praised as a very positive step towards the ban-ning of tobacco advertising, sponsorship and promotion here in the Mountain kingdom.
