Press Release - 17 APRIL 2009
Slavery on Malawian tobacco estates
On Friday, 17 April 2009, the Germany based NGO Blue 21 delivered the petition for tobacco workers' rights to representatives of the Government of Malawi in Lilongwe. The petition calls upon the Malawian government to abolish the debt bondage system which is called "Tenancy Labour" and give basic rights to tobacco workers and tenants. The petition was initiated by Blue 21 and the Tobacco Tenants and Allied Workers Union of Malawi (TOTAWUM) and supported by several Malawian organisations.
The south-east African country of Malawi derives about 70% of its foreign exchange earnings from tobacco. Malawian leaf is found in most of the major tobacco brands. Surveys and reports by Malawian organisation and international scientists show: The about 500,000 tobacco tenants in the country usually don't have written labour contracts, and little or no access to basic necessities like safe drinking water, adequate housing and sufficient food. "What we find on tobacco estates can only be described by the term 'modern slavery'" reports the speaker of Blue 21 about her impressions from visits on several farms.
Representatives of Ministry of Labour and Ministry of Agriculture as well as TOTAWUM, the Centre for Social Concern and Malawian anti-tobacco organisations attended the press conference for the delivery of the petition. Two tenants from Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe's Zanzi Estate in Mitundo gave their testimonies.
The representative of the Ministry of Labour, Mr Ordrige Khunga commented: "As of now, what we can tell you is that the Bill is with Ministry of Justice."
The representative of the Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Gray Nyandule Phiri, demanded that the side of the landlords should also be heard. Father Jos Kuppens, Director of the Centre for Social Concern, responded to that remark: "We have come here, I think, specifically to look at the tenants. We have invited TAMA and I don't think they're here today. And TAMA is supposed to represent them. Now, we cannot drag them in."
"Although the petition was addressed to the Ministry of Justice and although Blue 21 as well as the Malawian partner organisation Centre for Social Concern approached the Ministry several weeks before the delivery to find a date that is convenient for them, they excused themselves just a few minutes before the press conference was supposed to start: The responsible officer is tied in another meeting. The ministries pass on the buck to one another. The Ministry of Justice told us in a telephone call that the responsibility is not with them but with the Ministry of Labour. This, in addition to the absence of the essential Ministry shows: Obviously, there is no political will to pass the Tenancy Labour Bill!" explained Laura Graen, speaker of Blue 21.
The petition delivery is part of a bigger project which is conducted by the Malawian organisation Centre for Social Concern (CFSC). In the middle of the campaigning time for the General Elections
in May 2009, the Lilongwe based Centre puts pressure on government and politicians and brings the issue into the public. The aim is to make the plight of tenants a campaign issue and press for the passing of the Bill after the elections. The project was started with a CSO conference on 16/17 March to build a network. Other activities were field trips with journalists to estates. The Centre also anticipates demonstrations in May.
On the website of the tobacco project of Blue 21 you find: (http://www.unfairtobacco.org/index.php?id=media):
- the full text of the petition
- the statement of Blue 21
- pictures from tobacco estates in high resolution
- further background information
High quality audio recordings of the press conference and testimonies of tenants can be made available upon request.
With any questions, please don't hesitate to call or email Laura Graen, speaker of Blue 21:
Mail: laura-urgent@unfairtobacco.org
Phone: 00265 - 9999 58 697 (until 19 APRIL, 10:30 am) // 0049 - 1577 - 259 22 47 (from 20 APRIL, 1 pm)
Background information of the supporting organisations:
Blue 21 is the Berlin Working Group on Environment and Development and was founded in 1995 with the aim to serve low-income countries by lobbying for their issues in Germany and Europe. Since then, the organisation is lobbying for debt relief for developing countries, for fair world market systems and for sustainable development. It scrutinizes Western development assistance policies (like IMF and World Bank Structural Adjustment Programmes) for their possible negative impacts on countries in which they are implemented.
In 2004, Blue 21 initiated the campaign "Rauchzeichen!" ("smoke signal") with the aim to raise awareness on exploitation of farmers and workers by tobacco companies and destruction of environment in tobacco growing regions.
The Tobacco Tenants and Allied Workers Union of Malawi (TOTAWUM) is representing the tobacco tenants and workers in Malawi. It was officially registered in 1998 and represent about 21,000 tenants.
The Centre for Social Concern (CFSC) was founded in 2001 as a project of Missionaries of Africa (White Fathers). It is a faith-based organization that promotes research and action on social issues, linking the Christian faith with social justice. Since its establishment, it has been involved in matters related to the plight of the workers on the tobacco estates.
The organisations Drug Fight Malawi, Link for Education and Governance (LEG) and Youth Alliance in Social and Economic Development (YASED)-host of Smoke Free Malawi campaign- are the major tobacco control advocates in Malawi. By supporting the petition and witnessing its delivery, they showed their solidarity with the tenants and workers.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Anglophone Tobacco Control Advocacy Training in Ghana
Ghana News Agency - Accra, Ghana
Website: http://www.modernghana.com/news/203097/1/anti-tobacco-advocates-call-for-ban-on-smoking.html
Tobacco control advocates have called for actions that would put pressure on governments in Africa for effective tobacco control policies and laws to put an end to tobacco usage and smoking.They argued that tobacco companies had targeted Africa, especially its youth, to make them addicted to their products and make money out of their illicit and perilous business.The training programme, organized by the Africa Tobacco Control Regional Initiative (ATCRI), is to equip members on policy and advocacy, help them change policy and train them in epidemiology and make a difference in their respective countries.Participants come from Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Malawi, Ethiopia and The Gambia.They would be taken through building effective media advocacy, identifying key obstacles to tobacco control in their respective countries, health impacts of tobacco smoking, key industry argument and industry monitoring as well as funding initiative for tobacco control in Africa.Mr Oscar Bruce, Vice President of Coalition of NGOs on Tobacco Control and Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth complained about the numerous deaths being recorded as a result of tobacco smoking.He said tobacco-related diseases were on the rise in Africa, saying that over four million people worldwide died in 1998 of tobacco-related diseases.He noted that if the current tobacco use trend continued, "it is estimated that by 2030, 10 million people will die from tobacco-related diseases and seven million of these people would be from developing countries".Mr Bruce explained that the British American Tobacco (BAT) alone made profits of 5.28 million dollars each year from every 1,000 sticks of cigarettes it sold in Africa.“In Ghana, this translates to about GH¢0.23 per pack. So if a person in Ghana smokes one pack per day, then, he or she contributes GH¢83.95 in profits per year to BAT.”According to World Health Organisation (WHO), there are 1.3 billion smokers worldwide with 4.9 million people dying each year before their 50th birthday.He said it was unfortunate that smoking and death had reduced in the developed world where this aspect of social vice originated from and had risen in poorer countries where women and young children were the most affected."Tobacco smoking caused a lot of harm to the health of people and its use was a major cause of over 20 major categories of fatal, disabling diseases and preventable deaths leading to cancers, heart attacks and respiratory diseases. “A stick of cigarette contains over 4,000 chemicals which when inhaled could result in cardiovascular diseases, cancer of the kidney, lung, breast, pancreas, peptic, bladder, bronchitis and emphysema among others and puffing a stick is like puffing a whole packet of it.”Mr Nnimmo Bassey, Executive Director of Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth, Nigeria, said it was unfortunate that these tobacco manufacturing companies had targeted Africa especially the youth to get them addicted to tobacco smoking because there were hundreds of substances added to cigarettes to make smoking experience more pleasant and quitting becomes difficult.He urged government, non-governmental organisations, community groups, health professionals and religious groups to play their role in combating the epidemic of tobacco use.GNA
Website: http://www.modernghana.com/news/203097/1/anti-tobacco-advocates-call-for-ban-on-smoking.html
Tobacco control advocates have called for actions that would put pressure on governments in Africa for effective tobacco control policies and laws to put an end to tobacco usage and smoking.They argued that tobacco companies had targeted Africa, especially its youth, to make them addicted to their products and make money out of their illicit and perilous business.The training programme, organized by the Africa Tobacco Control Regional Initiative (ATCRI), is to equip members on policy and advocacy, help them change policy and train them in epidemiology and make a difference in their respective countries.Participants come from Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Malawi, Ethiopia and The Gambia.They would be taken through building effective media advocacy, identifying key obstacles to tobacco control in their respective countries, health impacts of tobacco smoking, key industry argument and industry monitoring as well as funding initiative for tobacco control in Africa.Mr Oscar Bruce, Vice President of Coalition of NGOs on Tobacco Control and Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth complained about the numerous deaths being recorded as a result of tobacco smoking.He said tobacco-related diseases were on the rise in Africa, saying that over four million people worldwide died in 1998 of tobacco-related diseases.He noted that if the current tobacco use trend continued, "it is estimated that by 2030, 10 million people will die from tobacco-related diseases and seven million of these people would be from developing countries".Mr Bruce explained that the British American Tobacco (BAT) alone made profits of 5.28 million dollars each year from every 1,000 sticks of cigarettes it sold in Africa.“In Ghana, this translates to about GH¢0.23 per pack. So if a person in Ghana smokes one pack per day, then, he or she contributes GH¢83.95 in profits per year to BAT.”According to World Health Organisation (WHO), there are 1.3 billion smokers worldwide with 4.9 million people dying each year before their 50th birthday.He said it was unfortunate that smoking and death had reduced in the developed world where this aspect of social vice originated from and had risen in poorer countries where women and young children were the most affected."Tobacco smoking caused a lot of harm to the health of people and its use was a major cause of over 20 major categories of fatal, disabling diseases and preventable deaths leading to cancers, heart attacks and respiratory diseases. “A stick of cigarette contains over 4,000 chemicals which when inhaled could result in cardiovascular diseases, cancer of the kidney, lung, breast, pancreas, peptic, bladder, bronchitis and emphysema among others and puffing a stick is like puffing a whole packet of it.”Mr Nnimmo Bassey, Executive Director of Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth, Nigeria, said it was unfortunate that these tobacco manufacturing companies had targeted Africa especially the youth to get them addicted to tobacco smoking because there were hundreds of substances added to cigarettes to make smoking experience more pleasant and quitting becomes difficult.He urged government, non-governmental organisations, community groups, health professionals and religious groups to play their role in combating the epidemic of tobacco use.GNA
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Selling Death: The real cost of tobacco to Malawi
First published in the Nation of 21 January, 2009. www.nationmw.net
Selling death:
The high price of
tobacco to Malawi
by Kondwani Munthali
Former UNICEF resident representative Idah Girma said Malawi within a short period has transformed its own story from that of perpetual hunger to self sufficient, reducing maternal deaths, increased access to safe water and meeting some of the acclaimed millennium development goals including access to education.
Girma said the onus was on Malawians to identify the remaining challenges “especially in health” and work had to find solutions. Girma left but her words ring louder as cholera outbreak is reported in the capital city claiming 19 lives and attacking more than 300.
Day before 2008 Christmas, Ministry of Health principal secretary Chris Kang’ombe made a chilling admission when he spoke of 7,000 lives that the country loses to malaria with close to 6 million incidences recorded in a year.
“I would say yes it is a difficult choice, either we forgo all the foreign exchange that the country depends on tobacco or we accept to continue sacrificing 7,000 lives that we lose due to malaria,” said Kang’ombe is trying to make sense over the resistance to the adoption of use of Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane (DDT) spraying which is proven to eradicate the fatal disease.
Cases of Malaria are well complemented as public health systems crumble in the face of growing HIV and Aids, Tuberculosis and even cancers. Child death arising from respiratory failure is also on the increase.
Tobacco is the name of the crop, introduced in Malawi ages ago and slowly it has enslaved the country that the risks of speaking against it are huge and have political, social and political ramifications.
The crop which contributes to a third of the countries gross domestic product continues to undermine economic diversification that a few interventions by Government have ended up increasing production instead of decreasing the product.
Ned Khalapula, 55, is a farmer in Kasungu’s Chinkhoma area, where production of burley and flue cured tobacco is high that Government opened an auction floors, the only one in a rural setting. He has been growing it for 30 years as a subsistence farmer.
“I always have a cough, so too my family but I have never related it to fumes from curing he crop. Neither do I have intentions to quit growing it now that you have told me about the dangers of tobacco, after all what will I do next. There is more money in tobacco now,” said Khalapula whose prizes for a 30 year hard labour is a bicycle, a four roomed house with iron sheets and a mobile phone worth US$15.
He is among thousands of small scale farmers who grow the crop, but normally re-sale before the opening of auction floors open to intermediate buyers who sale at higher prices. They sale fast to repay fertiliser and other input loans they get at the beginning of the season.
A father of six honest to admit, “It is a labour intensive work and with few returns. I do this because I have nothing else to do. I grow maize for food and rear a few goats. My life is tobacco.”
Processing of burley tobacco which is the main type grown in Malawi followed by flue cured uses many trees for creating drying sheds, curing and processing which has led to massive deforestation as one of the traditional leaders in the district agrees.
“The environment in Malawi has been greatly affected, rainfall patterns in agricultural belts of Kasungu, Dowa, Ntchisi and Mzimba indicate the huge disparity the environmental degradation has caused leaving people more poor than before,” stated Senior Chief Lukwa during a recent stakeholders meeting on situational analysis on tobacco control.
Tobacco control has been gaining momentum across the world, culminating into the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), ban in advertising and marketing and more recently in November 2008 adoption of more stringent measures to curb cheating among the tobacco countries.
Malawi has refused to sign the framework, irking public health workers who have to deal with huge cases of TB, cancer and malaria with inadequate tools, most of them can be directly related to tobacco.
For Malaria calls by the Ministry of Health to be allowed to use DDT residual spraying which has proven effective have met rebuttals from their Agriculture counterparts who contend that any trace of the chemical will make the country’s tobacco unattractive.
“But the truth is that the quantities we will be using are very small than that used in tobacco. More important we can devise a way to use the residual spraying and ask tobacco farmers not to keep the crop in the house,” said Dr. Storn Kabuluzi director of preventive health in the Ministry who still has hope that soon the country will come to its senses and allow the use of DDT.
Apart from Malawi there has never been research to establish the reasons for increased respiratory infections among children, effects on pregnant mothers and coughs including TB in major growing districts.
“Only six percent of people are able to access cancer treatment in the country,” says a veteran politician Aleke Banda who has retired from politics to fight cancer which is increasing at an alarming rate. Nobody has yet to link it with tobacco.
The truth however is still haunting many public health professionals, tobacco has enslaved Malawians plunging many into debts, causing sickness and iced up by a Government that is willing to sacrifice 7,000 lives to malaria, hundreds more to TB and many more to cancer.
“The real cost of tobacco to Malawi in terms of health is very huge. Malaria eats up 40 percent of the health service budget. We have tried to make an economic case of it and we hope it will change in due course,” adds Kabuluzi.
Tobacco smoking unfortunately for Malawi is on the increase according to a recent WHO study placing the country among the top free in 12 African Tobacco Control Situational Analysis (ATSA) programme.
Activists have accused tobacco companies of deliberately targeting young people that a recent Phungwe in Mzuzu where one won one million made it to a BBC documentary which showed BAT Malawi dishing free packs to guests at the hotel.
The documentary producer also filmed several children in Zomba and Mulanje either selling or buying cigarettes at ease and more importantly allowing sellers to sell single cigarettes than full packets.
“Unfortunately while in Europe and developed nations they do not allow to sale single cigarettes, if Malawi BAT produces posters which categorises price of one. Use famaous musicians to host phungwe’s and exploit on young ones,” states a narrator on the documentary.
The burden on smoking families has not been clearly spelt out among Malawians as each addicted smoker can go between 10 to 30 cigarettes a day which translates to an expenditure of K300 a day and almost K100,000 a year for a poor family.
“Tobacco makes one poor. Whether in smoking or growing, the only people that have been rich are tobacco companies who continue to register huge profits and the expense of the life of young Africans,” says a youth officer with the National Youth Council of Malawi.
The officer says absence of organised civil society to push for signing of the FCTC and control access to tobacco by young people and promote alternative and diversified economy continues to undermine the public health concerns of tobacco.
The Council is launching a ten month secondary school project with Youth Alliance in Social and Economic Development (YASED) and Bunda college’s Centre for Agriculture Research and Development (CARD) to educate young people on the dangers of smoking.
Smoking according to scientific evidence causes many types of cancers, inflammatory skin infection, causes or worsens several eye conditions, skin wrinkling, hearing loss, tooth decay, heart diseases, stomach ulcers, discoloured fingers, miscarriages and cervical cancers, deformed sperm and many more.
“Actually some diseases or body disorders such as infertility have ended up being heaped on poor old people as witches when the truth is that they have been exposed to smoking. Secondary smoking is as dangerous as first hand smoking, Government needs to work up to the same reality,” says Edward Phiri, Executive Director of YASED.
In Malawi, more lives especially children and women continue to be exposed to secondary smoke at public places as there is no specific law stopping smokers from smoking in public.
According to Phiri, 7,000 lives added up to cancer, TB and child infections, pregnant mothers and myriad of diseases caused by tobacco does not compensate its arguments against the FCTC.
“The tobacco companies know they are selling death. US courts have made them pay billions of dollars and accused them of mafia type of behaviour-hiding the truth. President Bingu wa Mutharika actually accused them of exploiting Malawians, that is the truth. He knows the truth let his Government act on it,” says Phiri.
Forty five years after independence, Malawi knows how it can stop Malaria but it is still not free enough to act. It continues to be enslaved by a crop that has been grown and aggravated poverty and diseases among its citizenry and it has no idea when to stop it!
Ends.
Selling death:
The high price of
tobacco to Malawi
by Kondwani Munthali
Former UNICEF resident representative Idah Girma said Malawi within a short period has transformed its own story from that of perpetual hunger to self sufficient, reducing maternal deaths, increased access to safe water and meeting some of the acclaimed millennium development goals including access to education.
Girma said the onus was on Malawians to identify the remaining challenges “especially in health” and work had to find solutions. Girma left but her words ring louder as cholera outbreak is reported in the capital city claiming 19 lives and attacking more than 300.
Day before 2008 Christmas, Ministry of Health principal secretary Chris Kang’ombe made a chilling admission when he spoke of 7,000 lives that the country loses to malaria with close to 6 million incidences recorded in a year.
“I would say yes it is a difficult choice, either we forgo all the foreign exchange that the country depends on tobacco or we accept to continue sacrificing 7,000 lives that we lose due to malaria,” said Kang’ombe is trying to make sense over the resistance to the adoption of use of Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane (DDT) spraying which is proven to eradicate the fatal disease.
Cases of Malaria are well complemented as public health systems crumble in the face of growing HIV and Aids, Tuberculosis and even cancers. Child death arising from respiratory failure is also on the increase.
Tobacco is the name of the crop, introduced in Malawi ages ago and slowly it has enslaved the country that the risks of speaking against it are huge and have political, social and political ramifications.
The crop which contributes to a third of the countries gross domestic product continues to undermine economic diversification that a few interventions by Government have ended up increasing production instead of decreasing the product.
Ned Khalapula, 55, is a farmer in Kasungu’s Chinkhoma area, where production of burley and flue cured tobacco is high that Government opened an auction floors, the only one in a rural setting. He has been growing it for 30 years as a subsistence farmer.
“I always have a cough, so too my family but I have never related it to fumes from curing he crop. Neither do I have intentions to quit growing it now that you have told me about the dangers of tobacco, after all what will I do next. There is more money in tobacco now,” said Khalapula whose prizes for a 30 year hard labour is a bicycle, a four roomed house with iron sheets and a mobile phone worth US$15.
He is among thousands of small scale farmers who grow the crop, but normally re-sale before the opening of auction floors open to intermediate buyers who sale at higher prices. They sale fast to repay fertiliser and other input loans they get at the beginning of the season.
A father of six honest to admit, “It is a labour intensive work and with few returns. I do this because I have nothing else to do. I grow maize for food and rear a few goats. My life is tobacco.”
Processing of burley tobacco which is the main type grown in Malawi followed by flue cured uses many trees for creating drying sheds, curing and processing which has led to massive deforestation as one of the traditional leaders in the district agrees.
“The environment in Malawi has been greatly affected, rainfall patterns in agricultural belts of Kasungu, Dowa, Ntchisi and Mzimba indicate the huge disparity the environmental degradation has caused leaving people more poor than before,” stated Senior Chief Lukwa during a recent stakeholders meeting on situational analysis on tobacco control.
Tobacco control has been gaining momentum across the world, culminating into the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), ban in advertising and marketing and more recently in November 2008 adoption of more stringent measures to curb cheating among the tobacco countries.
Malawi has refused to sign the framework, irking public health workers who have to deal with huge cases of TB, cancer and malaria with inadequate tools, most of them can be directly related to tobacco.
For Malaria calls by the Ministry of Health to be allowed to use DDT residual spraying which has proven effective have met rebuttals from their Agriculture counterparts who contend that any trace of the chemical will make the country’s tobacco unattractive.
“But the truth is that the quantities we will be using are very small than that used in tobacco. More important we can devise a way to use the residual spraying and ask tobacco farmers not to keep the crop in the house,” said Dr. Storn Kabuluzi director of preventive health in the Ministry who still has hope that soon the country will come to its senses and allow the use of DDT.
Apart from Malawi there has never been research to establish the reasons for increased respiratory infections among children, effects on pregnant mothers and coughs including TB in major growing districts.
“Only six percent of people are able to access cancer treatment in the country,” says a veteran politician Aleke Banda who has retired from politics to fight cancer which is increasing at an alarming rate. Nobody has yet to link it with tobacco.
The truth however is still haunting many public health professionals, tobacco has enslaved Malawians plunging many into debts, causing sickness and iced up by a Government that is willing to sacrifice 7,000 lives to malaria, hundreds more to TB and many more to cancer.
“The real cost of tobacco to Malawi in terms of health is very huge. Malaria eats up 40 percent of the health service budget. We have tried to make an economic case of it and we hope it will change in due course,” adds Kabuluzi.
Tobacco smoking unfortunately for Malawi is on the increase according to a recent WHO study placing the country among the top free in 12 African Tobacco Control Situational Analysis (ATSA) programme.
Activists have accused tobacco companies of deliberately targeting young people that a recent Phungwe in Mzuzu where one won one million made it to a BBC documentary which showed BAT Malawi dishing free packs to guests at the hotel.
The documentary producer also filmed several children in Zomba and Mulanje either selling or buying cigarettes at ease and more importantly allowing sellers to sell single cigarettes than full packets.
“Unfortunately while in Europe and developed nations they do not allow to sale single cigarettes, if Malawi BAT produces posters which categorises price of one. Use famaous musicians to host phungwe’s and exploit on young ones,” states a narrator on the documentary.
The burden on smoking families has not been clearly spelt out among Malawians as each addicted smoker can go between 10 to 30 cigarettes a day which translates to an expenditure of K300 a day and almost K100,000 a year for a poor family.
“Tobacco makes one poor. Whether in smoking or growing, the only people that have been rich are tobacco companies who continue to register huge profits and the expense of the life of young Africans,” says a youth officer with the National Youth Council of Malawi.
The officer says absence of organised civil society to push for signing of the FCTC and control access to tobacco by young people and promote alternative and diversified economy continues to undermine the public health concerns of tobacco.
The Council is launching a ten month secondary school project with Youth Alliance in Social and Economic Development (YASED) and Bunda college’s Centre for Agriculture Research and Development (CARD) to educate young people on the dangers of smoking.
Smoking according to scientific evidence causes many types of cancers, inflammatory skin infection, causes or worsens several eye conditions, skin wrinkling, hearing loss, tooth decay, heart diseases, stomach ulcers, discoloured fingers, miscarriages and cervical cancers, deformed sperm and many more.
“Actually some diseases or body disorders such as infertility have ended up being heaped on poor old people as witches when the truth is that they have been exposed to smoking. Secondary smoking is as dangerous as first hand smoking, Government needs to work up to the same reality,” says Edward Phiri, Executive Director of YASED.
In Malawi, more lives especially children and women continue to be exposed to secondary smoke at public places as there is no specific law stopping smokers from smoking in public.
According to Phiri, 7,000 lives added up to cancer, TB and child infections, pregnant mothers and myriad of diseases caused by tobacco does not compensate its arguments against the FCTC.
“The tobacco companies know they are selling death. US courts have made them pay billions of dollars and accused them of mafia type of behaviour-hiding the truth. President Bingu wa Mutharika actually accused them of exploiting Malawians, that is the truth. He knows the truth let his Government act on it,” says Phiri.
Forty five years after independence, Malawi knows how it can stop Malaria but it is still not free enough to act. It continues to be enslaved by a crop that has been grown and aggravated poverty and diseases among its citizenry and it has no idea when to stop it!
Ends.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
New EU pesticides regulations will undermine fight against malaria – new report
The European Parliament votes on Tuesday on a proposal to tighten regulation on agricultural pesticides, which risks making many common insecticides illegal. This will have a devastating effect on the fight against malaria in poor countries, according to a new report from the Campaign for Fighting Diseases. Effective malaria control relies on insecticides, many of which are derived from commercial agricultural insecticides. If these insecticides are banned in the EU, it is unlikely they will continue to be manufactured for public health uses, as there is almost no profit to be found there. Insecticide supplies will fall and prices will rise, leaving millions at greater risk of malaria. Over 1 million people die from malaria every year, mainly in the world’s poorest countries. The new legislation could also prevent people in poor countries from using EU-banned insecticides. In 2005 the EU threatened to impose trade restrictions on Uganda if it used the insecticide DDT for malaria control, which is banned in the EU. Uganda’s economic reliance on agricultural exports to the EU meant it was compelled to sacrifice one of the most effective methods of malaria control, resulting in thousands of unnecessary deaths. The same will occur for the new banned insecticides, directly undermining the EU’s support for the Millennium Development Goals – one of which is to halt and reverse the incidence of malaria by 2015. 160 scientists and malaria experts from around the world have already signed a petition urging the EU to re-think the legislation. Signatories include Prof Sir Richard Feachem, former head of the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Prof Sir David King, former Chief Scientist to the UK government, and Prof Paul Reiter, a medical entomologist who has advised the World Health Organization and US governments on insect-born diseases. Prof Paul Reiter, a specialist on vector-born diseases and an adviser to the report said: “It is unclear whether this new legislation can improve health or the environment in the EU. What is certain is that the health of millions who suffer—and die—from malaria and other insect-borne diseases in Less Developed countries will be seriously compromised if invaluable insecticides are banned from the market.” Philip Stevens, Director of the Campaign for Fighting Diseases and report co-author said: “The EU makes much of its self-proclaimed status as the ‘the world’s largest donor of official development assistance’. It seems perverse in the extreme that it may enforce new regulations that will inflict unnecessary disease and suffering on millions.”
CLICK HERE FOR THE REPORT or find it at http://www.fightingdiseases.org/pdf/NastyBite.pdf Ends Notes for editors The European Parliament will vote on Tuesday, 13th January on the pesticide regulation. According to one source, 22 active substances, found in scores of insecticides, will be banned under the proposals.
See http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081218/sc_afp/eufarmhealthchemicalregulate_081218170633 The UK government’s Pesticide Safety Directorate estimated that up to 23% of currently available pesticides could be removed from the market.
The petition from the 160 senior scientists can be found at http://fightingmalaria.org/pdfs/EU_pesticides_letter_of_petition.pdf.
The Campaign for Fighting Diseases (CFD) seeks to raise awareness of the realities of diseases suffered in the poorest regions of the world, and the need for viable solutions for these diseases. Members of the CFD, including academics, NGOs and think tanks, argue for prioritisation of action at local, national and international levels, to ensure that time and money are used most effectively to save lives and achieve the best results with limited resources.www.fightingdiseases.org
Monday, December 22, 2008
Teen smoking up in Malawi
First published in the Nation newspaper www.nationmw.net on 10 december 2008
Malawi tops in
teen smoking
by Kondwani Munthali
Malawian youngsters are ranked number three among 12 African countries currently implementing a tobacco smoking control African situational analysis (ATSA) programme, figures from World Health Organisation revealed this week.
Teenage smoking has been on the increase in Africa and Asia and a recent World Bank report indicated that smoking grew by 38.4 percent on the continent while it has been on decline in the developed countries.
“Zambia leads in the 12 ATSA countries with 25.6 followed by South Africa 23.6 and Malawi at 18.4 percent in teenage smoking for both sexes. Out of this figure of the 13 to 15 years old, girls make up at least 17 percent and 19 percent,” says a report on World Health Organisation Stastical Information system over a survey between 2005 and 2007.
The data reveals that more young females are starting to smoke as a casual and socially acceptable norm though they risk several reproductive health disorders including cervical cancer, reduced fertility, still birth and heart diseases.
Government has refused to sign the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control which seeks to check smoking especially in public citing its economic reliance on the crop as the main reason.
“15 percent of the adult population in Malawi smokes out of these above the age of 15 only 6 percent are females while 23 percent are females,” reads the data. Cameroon tops up in adult smoking where Malawi is number five among the 12 countries.
Mauritius tops with the number of male adult smoking with Malawi at six and Nigeria which has Africa’s highest population has lies at number 11. Tanzania has the lowest adolescent smokers at 6 percent.
Malawi is expected to launch the ATSA programme targeting secondary schools to control smoking among young people in January under an International Development Research Centre (IDRC) grant to Centre for Agricultural Research and Development (CARD) of Bunda College, Youth Alliance in Social and Economic Development (YASED), Ministry of Health and the National Youth Council of Malawi.
Team Leader of the project Deusdedit Kafere said in an interview that the pilot project to be implemented in Kasungu, Mangochi and Lilongwe is aimed at sensitising the youth on dangers of smoking and create smoke-free public places to ensure safety of non-smokers.
“The idea is not to stop production of tobacco, but to tell the youngsters about the risks of smoking. The dangers it poses to the health of non-smokers and ensure that people have the right information before the start smoking,” said Kafere.
On arguments by Government on not signing the FCTC, the Malawi ATSA team said the country was loosing out to an opportunity to diversify its economy after depending on tobacco for years at the same time putting most mothers and children at risk by not regulating smoking in public places.
“Malawi does not produce cigarettes which are the main focus of the project. The argument of putting 85 percent of Malawians at risk to make up our economy does not sound developmental,” reads the statement.
Ends.
Malawi tops in
teen smoking
by Kondwani Munthali
Malawian youngsters are ranked number three among 12 African countries currently implementing a tobacco smoking control African situational analysis (ATSA) programme, figures from World Health Organisation revealed this week.
Teenage smoking has been on the increase in Africa and Asia and a recent World Bank report indicated that smoking grew by 38.4 percent on the continent while it has been on decline in the developed countries.
“Zambia leads in the 12 ATSA countries with 25.6 followed by South Africa 23.6 and Malawi at 18.4 percent in teenage smoking for both sexes. Out of this figure of the 13 to 15 years old, girls make up at least 17 percent and 19 percent,” says a report on World Health Organisation Stastical Information system over a survey between 2005 and 2007.
The data reveals that more young females are starting to smoke as a casual and socially acceptable norm though they risk several reproductive health disorders including cervical cancer, reduced fertility, still birth and heart diseases.
Government has refused to sign the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control which seeks to check smoking especially in public citing its economic reliance on the crop as the main reason.
“15 percent of the adult population in Malawi smokes out of these above the age of 15 only 6 percent are females while 23 percent are females,” reads the data. Cameroon tops up in adult smoking where Malawi is number five among the 12 countries.
Mauritius tops with the number of male adult smoking with Malawi at six and Nigeria which has Africa’s highest population has lies at number 11. Tanzania has the lowest adolescent smokers at 6 percent.
Malawi is expected to launch the ATSA programme targeting secondary schools to control smoking among young people in January under an International Development Research Centre (IDRC) grant to Centre for Agricultural Research and Development (CARD) of Bunda College, Youth Alliance in Social and Economic Development (YASED), Ministry of Health and the National Youth Council of Malawi.
Team Leader of the project Deusdedit Kafere said in an interview that the pilot project to be implemented in Kasungu, Mangochi and Lilongwe is aimed at sensitising the youth on dangers of smoking and create smoke-free public places to ensure safety of non-smokers.
“The idea is not to stop production of tobacco, but to tell the youngsters about the risks of smoking. The dangers it poses to the health of non-smokers and ensure that people have the right information before the start smoking,” said Kafere.
On arguments by Government on not signing the FCTC, the Malawi ATSA team said the country was loosing out to an opportunity to diversify its economy after depending on tobacco for years at the same time putting most mothers and children at risk by not regulating smoking in public places.
“Malawi does not produce cigarettes which are the main focus of the project. The argument of putting 85 percent of Malawians at risk to make up our economy does not sound developmental,” reads the statement.
Ends.
Teen smoking up in Malawi
First published in the Nation newspaper www.nationmw.net on 10 deceber 2008
Malawi tops in
teen smoking
by Kondwani Munthali
Malawian youngsters are ranked number three among 12 African countries currently implementing a tobacco smoking control African situational analysis (ATSA) programme, figures from World Health Organisation revealed this week.
Teenage smoking has been on the increase in Africa and Asia and a recent World Bank report indicated that smoking grew by 38.4 percent on the continent while it has been on decline in the developed countries.
“Zambia leads in the 12 ATSA countries with 25.6 followed by South Africa 23.6 and Malawi at 18.4 percent in teenage smoking for both sexes. Out of this figure of the 13 to 15 years old, girls make up at least 17 percent and 19 percent,” says a report on World Health Organisation Stastical Information system over a survey between 2005 and 2007.
The data reveals that more young females are starting to smoke as a casual and socially acceptable norm though they risk several reproductive health disorders including cervical cancer, reduced fertility, still birth and heart diseases.
Government has refused to sign the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control which seeks to check smoking especially in public citing its economic reliance on the crop as the main reason.
“15 percent of the adult population in Malawi smokes out of these above the age of 15 only 6 percent are females while 23 percent are females,” reads the data. Cameroon tops up in adult smoking where Malawi is number five among the 12 countries.
Mauritius tops with the number of male adult smoking with Malawi at six and Nigeria which has Africa’s highest population has lies at number 11. Tanzania has the lowest adolescent smokers at 6 percent.
Malawi is expected to launch the ATSA programme targeting secondary schools to control smoking among young people in January under an International Development Research Centre (IDRC) grant to Centre for Agricultural Research and Development (CARD) of Bunda College, Youth Alliance in Social and Economic Development (YASED), Ministry of Health and the National Youth Council of Malawi.
Team Leader of the project Deusdedit Kafere said in an interview that the pilot project to be implemented in Kasungu, Mangochi and Lilongwe is aimed at sensitising the youth on dangers of smoking and create smoke-free public places to ensure safety of non-smokers.
“The idea is not to stop production of tobacco, but to tell the youngsters about the risks of smoking. The dangers it poses to the health of non-smokers and ensure that people have the right information before the start smoking,” said Kafere.
On arguments by Government on not signing the FCTC, the Malawi ATSA team said the country was loosing out to an opportunity to diversify its economy after depending on tobacco for years at the same time putting most mothers and children at risk by not regulating smoking in public places.
“Malawi does not produce cigarettes which are the main focus of the project. The argument of putting 85 percent of Malawians at risk to make up our economy does not sound developmental,” reads the statement.
Ends.
Malawi tops in
teen smoking
by Kondwani Munthali
Malawian youngsters are ranked number three among 12 African countries currently implementing a tobacco smoking control African situational analysis (ATSA) programme, figures from World Health Organisation revealed this week.
Teenage smoking has been on the increase in Africa and Asia and a recent World Bank report indicated that smoking grew by 38.4 percent on the continent while it has been on decline in the developed countries.
“Zambia leads in the 12 ATSA countries with 25.6 followed by South Africa 23.6 and Malawi at 18.4 percent in teenage smoking for both sexes. Out of this figure of the 13 to 15 years old, girls make up at least 17 percent and 19 percent,” says a report on World Health Organisation Stastical Information system over a survey between 2005 and 2007.
The data reveals that more young females are starting to smoke as a casual and socially acceptable norm though they risk several reproductive health disorders including cervical cancer, reduced fertility, still birth and heart diseases.
Government has refused to sign the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control which seeks to check smoking especially in public citing its economic reliance on the crop as the main reason.
“15 percent of the adult population in Malawi smokes out of these above the age of 15 only 6 percent are females while 23 percent are females,” reads the data. Cameroon tops up in adult smoking where Malawi is number five among the 12 countries.
Mauritius tops with the number of male adult smoking with Malawi at six and Nigeria which has Africa’s highest population has lies at number 11. Tanzania has the lowest adolescent smokers at 6 percent.
Malawi is expected to launch the ATSA programme targeting secondary schools to control smoking among young people in January under an International Development Research Centre (IDRC) grant to Centre for Agricultural Research and Development (CARD) of Bunda College, Youth Alliance in Social and Economic Development (YASED), Ministry of Health and the National Youth Council of Malawi.
Team Leader of the project Deusdedit Kafere said in an interview that the pilot project to be implemented in Kasungu, Mangochi and Lilongwe is aimed at sensitising the youth on dangers of smoking and create smoke-free public places to ensure safety of non-smokers.
“The idea is not to stop production of tobacco, but to tell the youngsters about the risks of smoking. The dangers it poses to the health of non-smokers and ensure that people have the right information before the start smoking,” said Kafere.
On arguments by Government on not signing the FCTC, the Malawi ATSA team said the country was loosing out to an opportunity to diversify its economy after depending on tobacco for years at the same time putting most mothers and children at risk by not regulating smoking in public places.
“Malawi does not produce cigarettes which are the main focus of the project. The argument of putting 85 percent of Malawians at risk to make up our economy does not sound developmental,” reads the statement.
Ends.
Malawi sacrifices 7,000 to save tobacco
Malawi sacrifices
7,000 to save tobacco
..DDT can eradicate Malaria-WHO
by Kondwani Munthali
Top civil servant in the Ministry of Health Chris Kang’ombe on Wednesday admitted that the country’s reliance on tobacco has affected the fight against malaria as there are resistance to the adoption of use of Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane (DDT) spraying which is proven to eradicate the fatal disease.
DDT was banned due to environmental and toxic effects, but the World Health Organisation has recognised that spraying the insecticide can eradicate malaria, as since the ban there has been increase in the incidents of malaria in South America and Africa.
“I would say yes it is a difficult choice, either we forgo all the foreign exchange that the country depends on tobacco or we accept to continue sacrificing 7,000 lives that we lose due to malaria,” Kang’ombe said.
He said the Ministry had started the process of consultations and it was still optimistic that the officials in the Ministry of Agriculture which are concerned that the country’s green gold could not be bought if traces of DDT are found in the leaf are convinced.
Malawi according to Kang’ombe experiences at least six million incidents of malaria, resulting in 40 percent of the country’s health budget being taken up by the fight against the disease which can easily be eradicated.
“We are trying to make the economic argument of matter. You reduce or eradicate malaria, you have a healthy person, reduced morbidity and mortality which have both huge costs on the public resources,” said Kang’ombe.
Director of Preventive Health Storns Kabuluzi said he believes the use of DDT is a matter of time as there is enough evidence from the current indoor residue spraying using ICON10CN in Nkhotakota has shown effectiveness in preventing malaria.
“We are trying to find way of accommodating the economic and agricultural needs. The problem that the agriculture people are expressing is that some people use their own homes to cure tobacco and we will be spraying the same homes. May be we can try to advocate for methods that are differentiate the two,” said Dr. Kabuluzi.
WHO Malawi officer-in-charge Richard Banda said the quantities that could be used for spraying DDT are very small as compared with the use of the same chemical in agriculture.
“I believe there will be a time that we should be able to use it as the quantities cannot have any major impact on the agricultural sector as feared,” said Banda.
Malawi joined the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) commemoration of malaria this week as part of efforts to raise awareness on the diseases which has claimed 20 million children since the banning of DDT.
Statistics indicate that an average 350,000 people reported at the country’s health facilitates with malaria while 21 million were recorded sick in the SADC region resulting in 300,000 deaths.
“Malaria illness causes death, inhibits tourism and affects external investment. Malaria prevents children from attending school. Women are four times likely to suffer from malaria during pregnancy resulting in low birth weight, miscarriages and still briths,” said Kang’ombe pleading with Malawians to use free nets government has been distributing to prevent malaria.
Tobacco has been a major challenge to implementing public health programmes in the country including the smoking controls and now malaria as Government has argued over its economic importance.
However public health specialists argue that the benefits of public health programmes will reduce health bills, poverty induced by diseases and deaths and also have economically productive citizenry.
Ends.
First published in Nation on Sunday, 21 December 2008
7,000 to save tobacco
..DDT can eradicate Malaria-WHO
by Kondwani Munthali
Top civil servant in the Ministry of Health Chris Kang’ombe on Wednesday admitted that the country’s reliance on tobacco has affected the fight against malaria as there are resistance to the adoption of use of Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane (DDT) spraying which is proven to eradicate the fatal disease.
DDT was banned due to environmental and toxic effects, but the World Health Organisation has recognised that spraying the insecticide can eradicate malaria, as since the ban there has been increase in the incidents of malaria in South America and Africa.
“I would say yes it is a difficult choice, either we forgo all the foreign exchange that the country depends on tobacco or we accept to continue sacrificing 7,000 lives that we lose due to malaria,” Kang’ombe said.
He said the Ministry had started the process of consultations and it was still optimistic that the officials in the Ministry of Agriculture which are concerned that the country’s green gold could not be bought if traces of DDT are found in the leaf are convinced.
Malawi according to Kang’ombe experiences at least six million incidents of malaria, resulting in 40 percent of the country’s health budget being taken up by the fight against the disease which can easily be eradicated.
“We are trying to make the economic argument of matter. You reduce or eradicate malaria, you have a healthy person, reduced morbidity and mortality which have both huge costs on the public resources,” said Kang’ombe.
Director of Preventive Health Storns Kabuluzi said he believes the use of DDT is a matter of time as there is enough evidence from the current indoor residue spraying using ICON10CN in Nkhotakota has shown effectiveness in preventing malaria.
“We are trying to find way of accommodating the economic and agricultural needs. The problem that the agriculture people are expressing is that some people use their own homes to cure tobacco and we will be spraying the same homes. May be we can try to advocate for methods that are differentiate the two,” said Dr. Kabuluzi.
WHO Malawi officer-in-charge Richard Banda said the quantities that could be used for spraying DDT are very small as compared with the use of the same chemical in agriculture.
“I believe there will be a time that we should be able to use it as the quantities cannot have any major impact on the agricultural sector as feared,” said Banda.
Malawi joined the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) commemoration of malaria this week as part of efforts to raise awareness on the diseases which has claimed 20 million children since the banning of DDT.
Statistics indicate that an average 350,000 people reported at the country’s health facilitates with malaria while 21 million were recorded sick in the SADC region resulting in 300,000 deaths.
“Malaria illness causes death, inhibits tourism and affects external investment. Malaria prevents children from attending school. Women are four times likely to suffer from malaria during pregnancy resulting in low birth weight, miscarriages and still briths,” said Kang’ombe pleading with Malawians to use free nets government has been distributing to prevent malaria.
Tobacco has been a major challenge to implementing public health programmes in the country including the smoking controls and now malaria as Government has argued over its economic importance.
However public health specialists argue that the benefits of public health programmes will reduce health bills, poverty induced by diseases and deaths and also have economically productive citizenry.
Ends.
First published in Nation on Sunday, 21 December 2008
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