Uganda Stands Firm on E-Cigarette Ban
Uganda is standing firm on its eight-year ban on the sale of electronic cigarettes, despite opposition from the tobacco industry, the World Health Organisation said Tuesday, writes Winston Mwale.
KAMPALA, Uganda— Uganda is standing firm on its eight-year ban on the sale of electronic cigarettes, despite opposition from the tobacco industry, the World Health Organisation said Wednesday, writes Winston Mwale.
The Tobacco Control Act, of 2015, bans the importation, manufacture, distribution, processing, sale, and offer for sale of e-cigarettes, including nicotine- and non-nicotine-containing liquids, among other substances.
“Despite Uganda’s high and increasing burden of non-communicable disease morbidity and mortality rates, one in ten people still smoke cigarettes daily, making the practise an ongoing and dire public health threat,” Dr. Yonas Tegegn Woldemariam, WHO Country Representative for Uganda, said in a statement.
He said the ban is justified by the evidence that using e-cigarettes is dangerous, especially for young people and people who have never smoked.
“A 2016 study reported in the Lancet journal found that people who use or have used e-cigarettes are less likely to stop smoking,” Woldemariam said.
He said the tobacco industry is opposed to the ban because it would reduce its profits.
“The tobacco industry is constantly trying to find new ways to hook people on nicotine, and e-cigarettes are just the latest example,” Woldemariam said.
He urged the Ugandan government to enforce the ban and to continue to support other measures to reduce tobacco use, such as increasing taxes on cigarettes and banning tobacco advertising.
“Uganda has made great progress in tobacco control, but there is still more work to be done,” Woldemariam said.
“We need to continue to work together to protect the health of Ugandans from the harmful effects of tobacco.”