New commitment by Government to anti-tobacco action

New commitment by Government to anti-tobacco action
New commitment by Government to anti-tobacco action

A new chapter in the country's approach to anti-tobacco legislation may be in the offing with the recent pronouncement by the recently appointed Minister of Health and Wellness Dr. Lemogang Kwape that the draft law would be headed for consideration by Parliament after completion of ongoing consultations with stakeholders.

This pronouncement, which was made by the Minister during an introductory visit by a team led by Professor Bontle Mbongwe from Botswana’s Anti Tobacco Network (ATN), has provoked optimism that Government would at long last break from what has always appeared to be the unholy influence of the notorious tobacco industry.

With preventable non-communicable chronic cardiovascular and respiratory diseases as well as mental disorders continuing to ravage the country, inflicting a heavy toll on people of all ages, causing untold misery by inflicting death, poor health, disability and poverty, the ATN welcomes the new determination of the Ministry of Health and Wellness. This would ensure that the new legislation was more aligned with domestic needs and reflecting global trends in viewing smoking as one of the greatest threats to improved livelihoods and wellbeing of all time.

Editor's Comment
The State apparatus must be sanitised

When the State cannot rely on its own machinery to pursue suspected wrongdoing, repairing that machinery must become a national priority.The establishment of a Special Investigations and Asset Recovery Task Force may help government respond to the immediate challenge. However, Botswana cannot afford to leave the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) and the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) struggling whilst building...

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