Management of Coalition of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), in tobacco control (CNTC), on Saturday organized a durbar at Okaishie, in Accra to educate the people on the harmful effects of tobacco smoking.
Mr. Oscar Bruce, Vice President of the CNTC, said it was the desire of the coalition to "create awareness on adverse effects of tobacco smoking throughout the country in order to prevent and protect the second hand smoker in particular."
He said people needed to be educated and informed on the health hazards of tobacco smoking to ensure compliance of the Tobacco Control Bill when passed into law.
"We will not rest in carrying out outreach programmes to include those in the rural areas until the Tobacco Control Bill is passed into law," he stressed.
Mrs. Edith Wellington, Principal Health Research Officer of Ghana Health Service (GHS), expressed shock over emerging trend of teenage smokers in the country and called for continuous education in schools to address the issue.
She disclosed that a survey conducted by GHS in 2006, indicated that 5 percent of some 10,000 Junior High Schools pupils, interviewed across the country, smoked tobacco.
Mrs. Wellington said subsequently, efforts to educate the youth in particular against smoking had been stepped up by the GHS.
"We have been able to print brochures, leaflets, tracts and other handouts and distributed them in schools to raise awareness," she said adding that the outreach programme had included training teachers and health professionals.
Mrs. Wellington said the GHS had formed partnerships with the Ghana Education Service, Environmental Protection Agency, Customs Excise and Preventive Service and NGOs to discourage the public from smoking tobacco.
Miss Sophia Twum-Barima, Health Information and Promotion Officer of World Health Organisation (WHO), cautioned the youth against smoking and being used by adults to either buy or trade in tobacco.
She lauded the efforts of GHS in conducting series of programmes to sensitize stakeholders and civil society on the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) of World Health Organization (WHO).
The FCTC is the first treaty negotiated under the auspices of the WHO for the promotion of public health and provides new legal dimensions for international health cooperation.
It was also developed in response to the globalization of the tobacco epidemic and is an evidence-based treaty that reaffirms the right of all people to the highest standard of health.
The treaty was adopted by the WHO Assembly on 21 May 2003 and entered into force on 27 February 2005 and it has since become one of the most widely embraced treaties in UN history.
Ghana signed the treaty in 2003 and ratified it on 29th November 2004 and the country is expected to adopt the key elements of the FCTC into a national tobacco control law.