The Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA) says over 28,000 people die in Nigeria annually from the use of tobacco.
The NTCA Chairman, Akinbode Mathew Oluwafemi, said this yesterday in Abuja at a media conference to intensify the enforcement of graphic health warnings on all tobacco products.
“As an alliance, we’ve continued to work to strengthen the gains made so far on the policy. Therefore, as recently as October 2022, we commissioned a survey to ascertain the compliance level of the policy on all tobacco products in the country.
“The survey was carried out in Ekiti, Adamawa, Cross River, Abia, Abuja and Kano. When results from this survey were compared with results from a similar survey we conducted in 2021, the results showed a significant increase in the compliance level on cigarette packs, with an estimated 90% compliance,” Oluwafemi said.
Akinbode said since the National Tobacco Control Act 2015 and the National Tobacco Control Regulations of 2019, tobacco companies only used graphic health warnings on cigarette products.
