Undoubtedly,
this is the most telling testimony of press luncheon organized by the Cameroon
Coalition against Tobacco (C3T), as a prelude to the celebration on May 31,
2013, of the 25th World No Tobacco Day (WNTD).
This
former employee of the British American Tobacco, who participated in the
manufacture of cigarettes, confirms the presence of formalin in the composition
of this poison. With his former taster status, he seems to know what he’s
talking about, having served as a guinea pig for the industry to ensure its
products’ effects on consumers.
Discussions
during the press luncheon were punctuated by such testimonies, either from
former smokers, or victims of passive smoking. Similarly, the contributions of
experts from ministries of health, trade, higher education, as well as leaders
of civil society, have permitted to bring an answer to the journalists’
preoccupations. The press luncheon which held on Tuesday, May 28, 2013 at the
House of Solidarity in Yaounde, constituted for C3T a platform for information
and exchanges on tobacco control in Cameroon. It was also a question of
sensitizing opinion leaders such as the media, on their role as potential
vectors of illegal advertising of the tobacco industry, in relation with the
theme of WNTD 2013.