Accra: Ms Rhoda Mingle, the Communication Manager of Vision for Accelerated Sustainable Development - Ghana (VAST-Ghana), has appealed to the government to provide a comprehensive regulatory framework to protect children from new tobacco and nicotine products. She emphasized the need for evidence-based public health measures to protect communities, particularly vulnerable populations, from tobacco-related harm.
According to Ghana News Agency, Ms Mingle made this appeal in a statement marking the commemoration of World No Tobacco Day. She highlighted the unchanged primary objective of the tobacco industry, which is profit maximization over public health protection or genuine harm reduction. Ms Mingle urged that this reality should guide policy decisions and regulatory approaches.
She referenced the World Health Organisation (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which outlines urgent steps to ban all forms of advertising, promotion, and sponsorship, especially on digital platforms where youth are most exposed. The framework also calls for strengthening enforcement to curb illicit sales and online distribution, safeguarding policymaking from tobacco industry interference, and constant public sensitization programs on the harmful effects of tobacco products.
Ms Mingle cited the Global Youth Tobacco Survey conducted in Ghana in 2017, which revealed that 4.9 percent of students use e-cigarettes, while 6.5 percent continue to smoke traditional tobacco products. This survey, supported by WHO and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in collaboration with the Ghana Health Service, provides critical insights into youth tobacco use patterns in the country.
The findings show concerning trends in youth nicotine consumption, with an emerging popularity of electronic cigarettes while traditional smoking among adolescents remains a public health issue. Ms Mingle noted that more girls than boys reported using e-cigarettes and that online marketing, flavored options, and peer normalization are fueling experimentation. Public awareness of the health risks remains dangerously low, which the tobacco industry exploits.
She pointed out that the U.S. CDC reports e-cigarettes contain toxic substances linked to cancer, lung damage, and cardiovascular disease. WHO has asserted these products have not delivered a net public health benefit and threaten to renormalize smoking.
Ms Mingle stressed the need for a comprehensive regulatory framework that bans advertising, restricts flavorings that attract children, and implements age-verification systems across all sales platforms. She emphasized that tobacco and nicotine addiction remain leading preventable causes of death worldwide, killing over seven million people annually. The new frontier is more technologically advanced and socially normalized, requiring decisive action to safeguard public health, especially for younger generations and vulnerable populations.
