Posted by Samuel on Wed 29th Jun, 2022 - tori.ng
Adeleke Mamora, the Minister of State for Health, enjoined Nigerians to avoid tobacco and exposure to second-hand smoke.
The Country Representative of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Walter Mulombo, has disclosed that about 30,000 Nigerians die annually of tobacco-related diseases.
Speaking in Abuja, Tuesday, during the launch of the Nigeria Tobacco Control Data Initiative Dashboard by Development Gateway, an IREX venture, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, as part of activities to mark this year’s World No Tobacco Day in the country, he said the number is more than those killed by COVID-19, which stood at 3,144 in the country so far.
The Country Representative described tobacco as a slow and silence ticking bomb to those taking it, explaining that, “over 30,000 Nigerians die of tobacco-related diseases every year.”
Adeleke Mamora, the Minister of State for Health, enjoined Nigerians to avoid tobacco and exposure to second-hand smoke.
He explained that the government had commenced the implementation of a new three-year tobacco tax regime which would end in 2024.