The Federal Ministry of Health, in collaboration with a Non Governmental Organization (NGO), Management Sciences for Health has have taken the sensitisation on the dangers of tobacco intake to streets and markets in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
The Stakeholders in the Health Sector, during the sensitization walk in Port Harcourt said tobacco has a lot of negative effects on humans, adding that it was due to these adverse effects that can not be over emphasized that necessitated the continued sensitisation in public places across the nation.
The sensitisation exercise which was in commemoration of World No Tobacco Day, throw emphasis on the need to grow food instead of tobacco.
The stakeholders enjoined well-meaning Nigerians to join in the fight against the use of the substance which they describe as hazardous, while walking the streets of Port Harcourt with placards with inscriptions.
Speaking with Newsmen on the sideline, Head of Cardiovascular Disease and Tobacco Control Division, Department of Public Health, Federal Ministry of Health, Dr. Malau Toma, noted that Tobacco consumption has far-reaching consequences on the basic unit of society being the family and it has affected the workforce of the country.
He noted that the ministry has it as a core mandate to go around the 36 States of the Federation to create awareness on the harmful effects of consuming the tobacco in different forms.
He, however, called on relevant stakeholders to join hands in the fight against Tobacco consumption, advising parents to watch the activities of their children and wards as there is a prevalent rate of tobacco consumption in Nigeria.
On her part, Permanent Secretary Rivers State Ministry of Health, Dr. Utchay Chikanele, Joining the call for strict regulations on drug usage in the country, urged her counterparts from the federal Ministry to focus on the youths, stress that they are migrating from the use of tobacco to hard drugs.
The Permanent Secretary enjoined the Ministry to increase awareness of hard drugs and access the rural areas for adequate sensitization.
Also speaking, programme coordinator, Management Sciences for Health Peter Unekwuojo said globally tobacco kills over eight million people and over twenty-nine thousand people annually in Nigeria.
He explained that the Federal Ministry of Health regularly rolls out programs to disabuse the minds of Nigerians especially the Youths from tobacco intake.
Unekwuojo noted that the money spent on tobacco-related diseases in Nigeria is equivalent to Nigeria’s budget hence the need for sensitization.
The walk which started at the State’s secretariat in Port Harcourt with the theme Grow food not tobacco terminated at the Mile One Market
