The President of Cameroon Coalition Against Tobacco, C3T, Dr. Flore Ndembiyembe, has stated that an increase in the prices of cigarettes and a strong anti-tobacco law will greatly reduce illicit trade in Tobacco products and lessen smoking in the country.

She was speaking in Yaounde recently during a round table discussion organised by C3T as part of activities to mark the 28thedition of the World No Tobacco Day.

According to Ndembiyembe, illicit trade in tobacco products makes it more accessible, especially to vulnerable youths.

To her, the absence of an anti-tobacco law and the low cost of cigarette prices greatly weaken the fight against illicit tobacco trade in the country.

“A stick of cigarette costs just FCFA 15, a price which is affordable to any young person,” she stated.

Elaborating on this year’s theme, “Stop illicit trade in tobacco products,” Dr. Ndembiyembe said tobacco kills one out of two smokers each year. She said the World Health Organisation estimates six million tobacco related deaths each year in the world.

According to the 2013 World Report on Tobacco Consumption, Cameroon has more than one million active adult smokers. Going by the report, 66,000 Cameroonians die of the effects of tobacco every year.

The C3T President said this year’sNo Tobacco Day theme was aimed at sensitising officials, civil society and the public to ensure support for the measures to be taken by Government in the fight against tobacco consumption.

It was also aimed at making Government fight effectively against the illicit trade in tobacco in view of reducing the dangers of tobacco consumption in Cameroon.

On his part, the Director of the National Anti-Tobacco Control Programme in the Ministry of Public Health, Pascal Owono, said, while tobacco is a product that easily sells in the black market, its ravaging effects on the economy and citizens is disturbing and need the efforts of all stakeholders.

Hear him; “the fight against illicit trade in tobacco products is not an individual responsibility, but a responsibility to all. This is because tobacco, no matter its form, affects all lives”.

He said the fight against tobacco consumption is in line with Government’s policy of ensuring good health for the population. He hailed the efforts put in place by the C3T in the fight against the illicit trade in tobacco products.

The event ended with the award of prizes to the winners of a competition dubbed:

“I am not a marionette of cigarette” organised by C3T. The event brought together Cabinet Ministers, Members of Parliament, representatives of international organisations and the civil society, among others.