Too many smoke in TT

Representatives of civil society groups, faith-based organisations (FBO’s) and the private sector have signed a petition in support of the national tobacco control efforts outlined in the Tobacco Control Bill 2009.
Dominique Monteil, tobacco control officer of the Trinidad and Tobago (TT) Cancer Society, said the petition was signed by stakeholders and delivered to Minister of Health Jerry Narace in support of the Bill.
Monteil said the Bill highlights measures to control tobacco use, such as smoking in public places, ways to regulate the tobacco industry and how tobacco products are sold. 
“We know that tobacco is a major cause of disease and death in TT,” said Monteil.
Monteil was speaking at the TT Cancer Society and the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) Tobacco Control Stakeholders meeting held yesterday at Kapok Hotel, Maraval.
Some 15 stakeholders signed the petition which was delivered to Narace at the Ministry of Health, Park Street, Port-of-Spain.
According to statistics provided by the PAHO regional office for the World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO), “Trinidad and Tobago in 2005 accounted for 21 percent of the region’s smokers, the highest in the Caribbean.” Monteil said measures should be put in place for citizens to enjoy a 100 percent smoke-free environment adding that smoke-free “spaces are the only way to protect the entire society.” The current increasing rate of use and exposure to tobacco among youths, according to the Global Youth Tobacco Survey, ranked TT as having the “fourth highest smoking rate in the 13-15 age group in the region.” This was written in the petition sent to Narace. 
The petition stated while tobacco companies seize every opportunity to encourage tobacco consumption “to expand and to continue to generate huge profits” more people will suffer the “consequences of ill health from preventable diseases, early death and economic loss, unless (the industry is) strictly regulated.” 
Monteil said tobacco control measures which protect the smoker and non-smoker are crucial. 
She said the Mori Caribbean survey found that 71 percent of smokers need help to quit. 
“It is a very hard drug to quit, nicotine is highly, highly addictive. It is just as addictive as heroin, so we need to provide assistance to those people,” she said. 
Professor Paul Teelucksingh, chairman of the Cabinet Appointed Committee on Chronic Non-Communicable Disease, said tobacco is a legal product but may not be “a legitimate drug”. “It’s a toxin,” he said, adding that smokers and non-smokers must be made aware of being exposed to the toxins.
National Parent Teachers Association president (NPTA) Zena Ramatali also supported the Bill and said the NPTA, in 2005, started sensitising parents and students about the risks of smoking through the Coalition for a Tobacco Free TT.