Tobacco Double Burdens Strained Economies � Makgalemele

The assistant minister of Health and Wellness Phillip Makgalemele said tobacco is extremely dangerous to human health and ‘highly damaging to national economies’. Addressing the gathering in Selebi-Phikwe, Makgalemele said the country has since 2002 conducted studies to determine the burden and extent of the problem in order to have targeted interventions.

“The Global Youth Tobacco Survey and the study revealed that the overall prevalence of tobacco use was 14.3%, and boys were significantly more likely than girls to use tobacco,” he said.