Experts report major victory over smoking |01 June 2018

The percentage of Seychellois who smoke continues to drop sharply, local experts said yesterday as the world marked World No Tobacco day.

The trend is in line with that established through a serious study that looked at tobacco addiction over a period of 24 years.

“This remarkable outcome is the result of a combined number of efforts across all sectors,” said Bharathi Viswanathan – who heads the Unit for Prevention and Control of Cardiovascular Diseases.

Reacting to our claim that one still sees many people smoking, Miss Viswanathan said the number of smokers has indeed increased because there are more adults.

“But if the percentage was rising it could have been much worse,” said the manager, as she handed Seychelles NATION a copy of the 85-page report of the latest National Survey of Non-communicable Diseases.

“The proportion of smokers has dropped among men, women, boys and girls,” she said, crediting new laws that ban smoking in public places, hiked taxes on tobacco and education campaigns.

“A ban on advertising of tobacco products or sponsorships by cigarette makers has also helped.”

As with previous studies, the last in a series says:

“There have been downward trends for smoking, unchanged or decreasing patterns for high blood pressure and blood cholesterol, which is good news.”

The researchers however regret a “largely upward trends for diabetes and obesity” which their report cites as “bad news”.

Only Seychelles and Mauritius have carried out a series of such national studies in the region, the report says.

Miss Viswanathan said the number of tobacco addicts who wish to give up smoking is high and there are various methods by which the public health authority can help them including treatment with nicotine free alternatives.

“They only need to make an appointment,” she said.

Agreeing the total numbers of smokers in the population is still both high and increasing over time, the report calls for further strengthening of the tobacco control programme.

“Interventions to reduce tobacco use should be strengthened. This includes ensuring full enforcement of the ban on smoking in enclosed public places with regular monitoring by inspectors and spot fining of smokers and managers when people light up in non-authorised areas; implementation of rotating health warnings on tobacco packets; further tax increases at regular intervals at a greater pace than inflation, so that the ratio of tax/total cost is and remains larger than 75%); and continued health education programmes.

“It is also necessary that a cessation smoking programme is provided by health services to help smokers who wish to quit, including free provision of nicotine replacement medications.”

World Health Organisation member states, including Seychelles, have agreed on a 30% relative reduction in the prevalence of smoking between 2010 and 2025.

All tobacco control interventions and policies implemented in Seychelles are reported in the Reporting Instrument submitted every two years to the Conference of Parties to the Framework Convention of Tobacco Control.

The Public Health Authority says it is necessary to address all known measures for tobacco control so that the prevalence of smoking keeps decreasing in Seychelles and the target of a 30% decrease between 2010 and 2025 is achieved.

“As the first country that has ratified the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control in the African region, and consistent with strong tobacco control programmes for over 20 years, Seychelles should continue to aim at implementing best practices in tobacco control in the region,” Miss Viswanathan said.