Stakeholders Want Sensitization to Tobacco

In order to raise public awareness, according to PAXINA PHIRI, chair of the Zambia Media Network Against Tobacco, a bridge must be built between the media and those working in tobacco control activism.

Ms. PHIRI finds it depressing to see that certain media outlets in Southern Province know very little or nothing regarding tobacco control.

She has stated to journalists in Livingstone that more than 7,000 deaths in Zambia each year are caused by diseases linked to tobacco use, a scenario she said is preventable.

ISAIAH MBEWE, a monitoring and evaluation specialist at the Center for Trade Policy and Development, added that reviewing various tax instruments on tobacco products is necessary to limit consumers’ access to them.