By Deogratias Mmana:
Malawi’s heavy reliance on tobacco as bloodline for the country’s economy could be coming to an end following the government’s ratification of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).
Among others, the framework demands member countries to reduce tobacco provisions on the ground.
To help countries implement some of the WHO FCTC demand reduction provisions on the ground, WHO introduced a set of measures dubbed MPOWER in 2008 to reduce the demand for tobacco.
MPOWER is a roadmap to implementing the most effective tobacco demand reduction measures of the WHO FCTC tracked biannually in the WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic.
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The measures demand the country members to monitor tobacco use and prevention policies; protect people from tobacco use; offer help to quit tobacco use; warn about the dangers of tobacco; enforce bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship and raise taxes on tobacco.
According to the convention, every country member is required to reach the target to reduce tobacco use prevalence by 30 percent and if it is not meeting the target, there must be an advocacy for acceleration of tobacco control policies.
The convention says tobacco can be deadly even for non-smokers hence putting it under control
“Second hand tobacco smoke contributes to heart disease, cancer and other diseases, causing 1.2 million deaths, annually, in addition to the detrimental impact of tobacco on health, the total economic cost of smoking from health expenditures and productivity losses together are estimated to be around $1.4 trillion per year, equivalent in magnitude to 1.8 percent of the world’s annual gross domestic product,” the convention says.
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The convention adds that every year, more than eight million people die from tobacco related causes and most deaths occur in low and middle- income countries, areas that are viewed as growth markets by the tobacco industry.
The convention further urges member countries to pay attention to big tobacco companies along with manufacturers of tobacco products who are fighting to ensure the dangers of their products are concealed and block tobacco control actions by member countries.
Malawi just ratified the convention on August 18, 2023 joining other 182 parties to the WHO FCTC and has committed to the implementation of the treaty which enters into force in Malawi on November 16, 2023.
“On behalf of the secretariat, I have the honour to offer you my warmest congratulations on the ratification by Malawi of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control on 18 August 2023,” reads a letter authored by WHO FCTC Head of the Secretariat Adriana Blanco Marquizo.
The letter with reference number CS/HS/23/86 and dated September 12, 2023, is addressed to the Minister of Health and Population.
Marquizo also commends Malawi for nominating Counsellor Tiyamike Banda from the Permanent Mission to the UN and other international organisations in Geneva as an official contact point for the communication between the secretariat and Malawi on statutory and procedural matters under the WHO FCTC.
The secretariat has also asked Malawi to nominate a technical focal point for the exchange of information with and through the secretariat related to the implementation of the WHO FCTC nationally and globally.
In an interview on Tuesday, WHO Malawi Country Representative Neema Rusibamayila Kimambo said WHO does not support tobacco and its products because of their effects on people’s health.
“WHO supports countries’ decisions in tobacco control. Malawi has agreed to commence processes to control tobacco,” Rusibamayila said.
Economist and director for Centre for Research and Consultancy Milwad Tobias said: “The ratification should be taken as a wake-up call that there is a need for urgent alternatives to tobacco.”
“Replacing tobacco needs to be considered in a number of ways including scale of employment, revenue and foreign exchange. Tobacco is a source of livelihood to many people such as farmers, graders and processors, transporters, factory workers and banks and other financial institutions.
“Tobacco employs unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled people depending on the type of activities they do in the tobacco value chain. The replacements therefore must take into account these factors.”
He said that Malawi has few options because it produces for other markets hence even if it did not ratify but the countries that import our tobacco ratified, the effect to Malawi would be the same.
Agriculture expert Tamani Nkhono Mvula said the ratification gives a big threat to Malawi’s economy because tobacco is the biggest forex earner for the country as far as agricultural exports are concerned. But he said ratification is one thing and domesticating the agreement is another.
But he said demand for Malawi tobacco is still there despite the campaign against tobacco adding that the country will still trade in tobacco for some years.
“But in all these, it must be an eye opener that the environment is changing that tobacco will no longer be what it used to be. So, Malawi must make sure that it diversifies agriculture sector,” Mvula said.
But Minister of Agriculture Sam Kawale described the ratification as a positive development arguing that Malawi will have many tobacco buyers as they will have confidence in the tobacco.
“Our tobacco will attract a lot of investors. The ratification has advantages on both health ad economy sides,” Kawale said adding that on the health side, the country’s tobacco will now follow all the required production steps while bringing more investors to the country.
“Ratifying has brought more customers. We are sending more tobacco to China and soon we will be exporting tobacco to the Arab countries,” he said.
