The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) has urged the Katsina State government and other stakeholders to increase taxes on tobacco consumption within the state.
This is done to raise the price of the product so that demand is significantly reduced to the lowest possible level.
During a meeting in Katsina State, a Senior Programme Officer at the Centre named Solomon Adoga, stated that smoking causes more deaths annually than the combined fatalities from murder, AIDS, suicide, drugs, car crashes, and alcohol.
He stated that CISLAC has expanded its efforts to promote tobacco control to Katsina State, where tobacco smoking is prevalent among both men and women. The organization is implementing a project on Tobacco Tax Advocacy in Nigeria with the backing of Tax Justice Network-Africa TJNA.
Adoga emphasized that the plan is to have discussions with the Katsina State Executive and Legislative Arms to introduce a significant tax on tobacco usage, considering its negative impact on health, the economy, and other related issues.
Bashir Ruwan-Godiya, a member of the Katsina Coalition of Civil Society Organisations, expressed that the advocacy is well-timed and suggested that relevant authorities should also prohibit the importation and production of tobacco as a way to discourage smoking.
In addition to its economic impact, tobacco smoking is a major contributor to deaths and illness that could be avoided. It is closely associated with a significant number of cases of lung cancer, COPD, ischemic heart disease, and stroke.
Tobacco smoking causes over 7 million deaths every year, with approximately 10% of these deaths being attributed to second-hand smoke, as reported by PubMed Central (PMC).
