Upset In Tobacco Products Smoking In Rural Areas CSOs Raise Alarm
The organizations blamed the alarming situation on lack of enforcement of smoking laws and regulations in Ghana.
Freeman Koryekpor Awlesu Greater 
The Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in the health sector have expressed worry about the current surge of the smoking of tobacco products among rural folks and poor people in the country.
The organizations blamed the alarming situation on the lack of enforcement of smoking laws and regulations in Ghana.
According to them, they had observed that rural areas have higher smoking rates than urban areas in Ghana, which is leading to manifestations of diseases, disability, and mortality in the country.
Dr. Michael Boachie of the University of Allied Sciences and University of Cape Town who made this known when he was speaking at the press launch of a study report on the economics of tobacco taxation in Ghana on Monday, January 25, 2022, stated that poor people smoke more than rich in the country.
According to the research conducted in Ghana revealed that smoking habit is increasing among low-income groups and in rural areas in the country.
The research, sponsored by Vision for Alternative Development (VALD) and titled “Report on the economics of tobacco taxation/control in Ghana,” was launched in Accra today
In the report, Dr. Boachie indicated that the low cost of tobacco products is one of the main contributors to the upsurge in smoking among poor and rural dwellers.
He explained that selling single sticks of cigarettes instead of the box is encouraging young people and low-income earners to smoke.
According to him, whenever the price of tobacco products drops, there is a surge in its usage.
He, therefore, called for measures that would cause a sudden increase in tobacco products price.
Dr. Boachie proposed that not in the distant future, employment opportunities would be afforded first to none smokers.
The Executive Director of Programmes, Labram Musa added that some of the tobacco products on the market were smuggled into the country.
He said the health effects and the cost to families are increasingly becoming worrying.
Mr. Labram used the opportunity to call on the government to adjust the tax on tobacco products to discourage smoking as well as clamp down the illicit tobacco products traders.
