War on tobacco consumption: what are the chances?

Just weeks after the conclusion of the WHO conference of the parties on Tobacco control, held in Durban, South Africa, civil society organization are viewing the out come of that meeting as one to look up to.

Samboujang Conteh is the director of RAID The Gambia. As the chairperson of a coalition of NGOs and civil society organizations against tobacco control, Conteh was in Durban in mid November, as part of the 150 delegates who were there under the auspices of the Framework Convention Alliance (FCA), a key partner of the World Health Organization (WHO) in the global campaign against tobacco companies and the health implications of their products.

An objective of the civil society organizations had been to have the council of ministers of the member countries of the WHO treaty adopt articles 5.3, 11 and 13. This, according to Conteh, has been achieved, they adopted it unanimously, he said."

Among the plans of the Civil Society organisations engaged in tobacco control initiative in The Gambia are pictorial warnings, a subject that featured prominently at the Durban conference.

According to Conteh, there are strong indications that various governments are working hard on pictorial warnings. For The Gambia, he said, pictorial warnings are especially important considering the low level of literacy that exists. He said that in 2009, government is poised to working with CSO’s on tobacco control. He however said that it was difficult to tell about the chances of implementation.

He further went on to say that in February, the department of state for health is set to work with the national coalition in possible domestication of the signed treaty into our domestic laws. Conteh was, on the whole, upbeat about the position of government in the whole issue, expressing total satisfaction of the performance of the country’s delegate at the recently concluded conference.