According to data from the Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction, an NGO, about 5,012 individuals die each year from tobacco-related diseases, out of the 3.5 percent of the adult population that smoke in the nation.
As a result, the Executive Director of Ghana's Harm Reduction Alliance, Samuel Cudjoe Hanu, who announced this at a press conference in Accra yesterday[May 30, 2022], called for increased education on the health consequences of tobacco use and the need for tobacco harm reduction programs to be integrated into Ghana's public health system for healthier lives.
The press conference was held in conjunction with festivities marking World Vape Day 2022, which took place in Accra yesterday, and World No Tobacco Day, which took place today.
In 1987, the World Health Organization launched World No Tobacco Day to raise awareness about the tobacco pandemic and the unnecessary deaths and diseases it causes throughout the world.
"Protect the environment" is the subject for this year's memorial.
Tobacco's negative impact on health
Tobacco health reduction is a public health approach aimed at reducing the risks that tobacco products cause to people and society as a whole.
Mr Hanu said that cigarette smoking was dangerous due to the hazardous combination of chemicals released by the burning of tobacco.
"We do not think that a drug-free society will ever exist." Some people are unable to stop smoking cigarettes, and they should be provided with alternatives.
"Electronic nicotine delivery systems (EMDS), sometimes known as e-cigarettes, are a type of harm reduction device that, when promoted to smokers, can help them stop or lower the number of individuals who smoke," he stated.
As a result, rather than outlawing EMDS, he believes the nation should encourage those who smoke cigarettes to switch to EMDS.
"There have been fears that authorities should ban EMDS since we don't know the long-term effects, although the WHO has described the system as 95 percent safer than regular cigarettes."
"Harm reduction products, such as EMDS, are excellent smoking cessation aids. If e-cigarettes are banned, the likelihood of individuals returning to combustible smoking – cigarettes — is significant, which is deadly."
Information
Mr Hanu also urged the government to educate the public with accurate information on e-cigarettes and other low-risk goods so that smokers can transfer from combustible nicotine products like cigarettes to non-combustibles and low-risk products like EMDS.