While Waiting for Anti-Tobacco Law: Cameroon Coalition Against Tobacco Pushes On With Aggressive Sensitization

© Valentine MULANGO | Cameroon-Info.Net

It is estimated that not less than 44 per cent of pupils in Cameroonian schools have already had their first contact with tobacco and an anti-tobacco organisation fears the gory statistic could get worse. In addition, 15 per cent of the people below the age of 15 are among 17.5 per cent of the country’s smoking population.

The figures above are so frightening that the Cameroon Coalition Against Tobacco (C3T) headed by Dr Flore Ndembiyembe is bent on mitigating the rate of Tobacco consumption in the country through aggressive sensitization. For this reason, C3T on Tuesday September 23 gathered the media to discuss the quality of tobacco control in Cameroon as well as communication and commercialization strategies adopted by tobacco companies in modern times.

During the meeting, the coalition demonstrated how several tobacco brands uses psychology and social context to woo more victims.

Education: tobacco prevention in the manual of secondary schools.

The entrance of tobacco prevention in the curriculum of secondary schools will enable a better awareness of the youth about the dangers of tobacco.

Despite attitudes changes towards the dangers of tobacco, smoking is increasing. To remedy this situation, Hilaire Abouna, les Classiques Africains, alongside the Cameroon Coalition to Counter Tobacco (C3T), for the first time ever in the Cameroonian educational system, integrated in the module "Health Education" of the Sciences and Technology manual for the level two of the secondary education, a chapter entitled "Emerging behaviors harmful to the reproductive health."

The said chapter describes behaviors that can interfere with reproduction by putting a special emphasis on the dangers of smoking. Indeed, of the four pages covering this chapter, half are devoted to issues pertaining to tobacco.