Tobacco Control Laws in the Gambia: Scope and Alignment with the World Health Organisation’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
Abstract:
Realising
the harmful effects of tobacco use, the World Health Organization through World
Health Assembly Resolution 56.1 passed the Framework Convention on Tobacco
Control (FCTC), a landmark international legal instrument aimed at addressing tobacco
use and protecting the public. To support the implementation of the FCTC, the
World Health Organisation in 2008 adopted a comprehensive policy package MPOWER,
for tobacco control. This
package consists of six evidence-based tobacco control measures of Monitoring
tobacco use, protecting people from tobacco smoke, offering help to quit
tobacco, Warning people about the dangers of tobacco, enforcing bans on tobacco
advertising, promotion and sponsorship, and Raising taxes on tobacco. The
Gambia a signatory to the FCTC, have undertaken legislations with the aim of
reducing the impact of tobacco use. A needs assessment conducted in 2012 reviewed the
progress made in tobacco control implementation. This resulted in the enactment
of the Tobacco Control Act 2016 with the accompanying Tobacco Control
Regulations 2019. The Act and Regulations encompass ambitious policies,
including regulations on tobacco packaging design, restrictions on advertising
and tobacco promotion, prohibition of tobacco sale to minors, national smoking
ban in workplaces and public settings. Key provisions in the act include the formation
of a National Tobacco Control Committee with diverse membership, prohibition of
smoking in public places, total ban on tobacco advertisement, promotion and sponsorship,
prohibition of sale of tobacco products to minors, which aligns greatly with
the FCTC. One of the shortfalls within the act is the exclusion of a provision
to support tobacco cessation, which is a key component of the MPOWER.
References:
[1].
Marissa,
B. R., Nancy, F., Marie, N., Joseph, S. S., Amanuel, A., et al., 2017, Smoking
prevalence and attributable disease burden in 195 countries and territories,
1990-2015: a systematic analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015. The
Lancet, 389(10082):1885-1906. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)30819-X
[2]. World Health Assembly
Resolution 56.1, 2003, https://apps.who.int/gb/archive/pdf_files/WHA56/ea56r1.pdf
[3]. World Health
Organization, 2003, WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/42811/9241591013.pdf
[4]. International Agency for
Research on Cancer, 2009, IARC Handbook of Cancer Prevention, Evaluating the
effectiveness of smoke-free policies. World Health Organisation, International
Agency for Research on Cancer, https://www.iarc.who.int/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/handbook13.pdf
[5].
Shannon,
G., Gary, A. G., Lorraine, C., Alison, C., Edouard, T. D., Kerstin, S., et al.,
2017, Implementation of key demand-reduction measures of the WHO Framework
Convention on Tobacco Control and change in smoking prevalence in 126
countries: an association study: an association study. The Lancet Public
Health, 2(4): e166-e174. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(17)30045-2
[6]. World Health
Organization, 2025, WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic, 2025: warning
about the dangers of tobacco. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240112063
[7]. International Agency for
Research on Cancer, 2012, IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic
Risks to Humans - Personal Habits and Indoor Combustions. World Health
Organisation, International Agency for Research on Cancer. https://publications.iarc.who.int/Book-And-Report-Series/Iarc-Monographs-On-The-Identification-Of-Carcinogenic-Hazards-To-Humans/Personal-Habits-And-Indoor-Combustions-2012
[8]. Mattias, O., Maritta, S.
J., Alistair, W., Armando, P., Annette, P., 2011, Worldwide burden of disease
from exposure to second-hand smoke: a retrospective analysis of data from 192
countries. Lancet, 377(9760):139-146. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(10)61388-8
[9]. World Health
Organization, 2012, Tobacco Industry Interference. A Global Brief. World
Health Organization. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/WHO-NMH-TFI-12.1
[10].
David,
T. L., Zhe, Y., Yuying, L., Darren, M., 2018, Seven years of progress in
tobacco control: an evaluation of the effect of nations meeting the highest
level MPOWER measures between 2007 and 2014. Tobacco control,
27(1):50-7. https://doi.org/10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2016-053381
[11].
World
Health Organization, 2008, MPOWER Online: https://www.who.int/initiatives/mpower
[12]. International
Agency for Research on Cancer, 2008, IARC Handbook of Cancer Prevention,
Methods for Evaluating Tobacco Control Policies. World Health Organisation, International
Agency for Research on Cancer. https://www.iarc.who.int/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Tobacco_vol12.pdf
[13]. Steven, J. H., and
Charlie, T., 2015, Overview of systematic reviews on the health-related effects
of government tobacco control policies. BMC Public Health, 15:744. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-015-2041-6
[14]. Marissa, B. R., Pances,
J. K., Emad, A., Cristiana, A., Mohsen, A. K., Amir, A., et al., 2021, Spatial,
temporal, and demographic patterns in prevalence of smoking tobacco use and
attributable disease burden in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a
systematic analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. The Lancet,
397(10292):2337-2360. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(21)01169-7
[15]. Pekka, P., Mike, D.,
2019, Impact assessment of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control:
introduction, general findings and discussion. Tobacco Control, 28(Suppl
2), 81-83. https://doi.org/10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2018-054429
[16]. Luisa, S. F., Marissa,
B. R., Vinay, G., Marie, N., Emmanuela, G., 2021, The effects of tobacco
control policies on global smoking prevalence. Nature Medicine,
27(2):239-43. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-020-01210-8
[17].
Ariadna,
F.,
Filippos, T. F., Luk, J., Beladenta, A., Olena, T., Cristina, M., et al., 2021,
The association between tobacco control policy implementation and country-level
socioeconomic factors in 31 European countries. Scientific Reports,
11(1):8912. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-88194-8
[18]. World Health
Organization, 2019, WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic, 2019, offer help
to quit tobacco use. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241516204
[19]. Pratibha, N., Terry, F. P., Paul, S., Michael, P. E., 2017, Regretting Ever Starting to Smoke: Results from a 2014 National Survey. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 14(4)390. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14040390
