On 13 June 2025, Namibia venerated the World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) in Outjo, Kunene teach. The match became once venerated below the theme “Unmasking the allure”. This 300 and sixty five days’s WNTD campaign objectives to describe the systems employed by the tobacco and nicotine industries to blueprint their spoiled products enticing, notably to young of us. By exposing these tactics, WHO seeks to drive awareness, advocate for stronger insurance policies, together with a ban on flavours that blueprint tobacco and nicotine products extra attention-grabbing, and provide protection to public health.
At some stage in the match, Minister of Health and Social Products and companies, Dr. Esperance Luvindao in a speech delivered on her behalf by the Honorable Johannes Antsino, Outjo Constituency Councillor, highlighted that for the country to originate the Sustainable Pattern Map (SDG) intention of a one-third slice rate in premature mortality from non-communicable ailments (NCDs) by 2030, tobacco management can possess to accrued be prioritized by the governmentand communities. “As urged by WHO that international locations can possess to accrued acknowledge decisively to the tobacco epidemic by intention of the paunchy implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), adopting complete measures to decrease tobacco expend and its associated health risks. Namibia ratified the FCTC in November 2005,” she mentioned. The framework provides for member states, to put infrastructure, blueprint a dedication to controlling tobacco expend and promote neighborhood awareness of the risks associated to tobacco expend.
In accordance to World Health Organization (WHO), over 146 000 of us die from tobacco-associated causes in the African Situation every 300 and sixty five days and extra than 61 million of us in the teach expend tobacco. As well to, it became once reported that over 6% of teenagers former 13 to 15 are already the utilization of tobacco products.
In a speech read by Ms. Celia Kaunatjike, Health Promotion and Social Determinant officer at WHO Namibia, expressed considerations relating to the high prevalence of tobacco products expend among teenagers. “Despite a protracted time of growth in tobacco management, the industry continues to reinvent its capacity, the utilization of flavoured products, sleek packaging and centered digital marketing and marketing to appeal to unique customers, especially among the many formative years,” he mentioned. “These systems conceal the risks of tobacco, presenting it as standard or glamorous, making it less complicated to initiate, and tougher to stop,” he added. He extra called on the Government, faculties, families and communities to work together to blueprint obvious that that the environments in the route of which our kids grow are free from tobacco publicity and affect. “Let us recommit to setting up a tobacco-free future where every young person in Africa, Namibia in explicit can grow up gain, wholesome and empowered,” he entreated.
In 2022, about 11.2% of Namibians former 15 and over were people who smoke of which 19.2% were males and 4.0% were women folks. Among Namibian formative years former 13–15, 31.1% reported the utilization of tobacco products, of which 31.9% are boys and 29.9% are women. Tobacco expend accounts for roughly 4.1% of all deaths in Namibia, equating to over 1,000 smoking-associated deaths every 300 and sixty five days.
For the foremost time, Namibia will participate in the Africa Tobacco Control Programme, in the route of which WHO will present beef up to beef up legislation, enforcement, awareness, and terminate over a 5-300 and sixty five days length.
