Thank you, moderator.
Your Excellency Senator Lizzie Nkosi, Minister of Health, and esteemed colleagues who are participating today in this important event.
It is an honour and a privilege for me to join you for the handover of the Investment Case for Tobacco Control in Eswatini.
Normally, we would be participating in these events in person. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has made that impossible, so I thank you for allowing us to join you virtually.
Tobacco is a common risk factor for the four main noncommunicable diseases –cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes and cancers. Tobacco use takes the lives of more than 8 million people each year, and more than 1 million of those deaths occur among non-smokers who die from exposure to second-hand smoke.
And, we need to remember that more than 80% these deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries.
The evidence is compelling in Eswatini. More than 600 people from Eswatini die every year due to tobacco-related illness, accounting for nearly 6% of all deaths in the country.
In addition to that, tobacco use also negatively impacts the capacity of all countries to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
Tobacco use reinforces health and wealth inequalities and exacerbates poverty. Tobacco farming and tobacco use cause degradation of the environment.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is one of the reasons why the Secretariat of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) – through the FCTC 2030 project and its partners the United Nations Development Programme and the World Health Organization – decided to support the development of an Investment Case for Tobacco Control in Eswatini.
The investment case report analysed the health and economic costs of tobacco use, as well as the potential economic benefits that can come from implementing key measures of the WHO FCTC in Eswatini.
As a Party to the WHO FCTC since 2006 and to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products since 2016, Eswatini has demonstrated its commitment to reverse the trend in tobacco use.
We appreciate your laudable efforts to implement the global tobacco control treaty in your specific country context.
The enactment in Eswatini of the Tobacco Products Control Act in 2013 and the passing of the Alcohol and Tobacco Levy Act in 2019 were first steps in the right direction in order to curb a looming tobacco epidemic.
In order to provide further support for implementation of the WHO FCTC, the Convention Secretariat and its partners since the launch of the FCTC 2030 project in March 2020 have worked with the Government to conduct a needs assessment exercise.
This needs assessment has enabled us to identify jointly with the Ministry of Health the gaps in tobacco control and make recommendations for advancing implementation of the WHO FCTC in Eswatini. The report is currently being finalized and will be published soon.
The FCTC 2030 project also facilitated the set up and official launch of the National Coordinating Mechanism for tobacco control to ensure a multisectoral approach in the implementation of the Convention in Eswatini.
We are all aware of how the COVID-19 pandemic has hindered the implementation of tobacco control activities since its outbreak.
Considering the challenges of working during the pandemic, the donors of the FCTC 2030 project generously agreed to provide additional technical and financial support to Eswatini for one more year, from 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022.
As we continue this collaboration, the Government has requested our technical and financial assistance in supporting:
- the strengthening of multisectoral action for tobacco control through various activities with the national coordination mechanism for tobacco control;
- the development of a national tobacco control strategy;
- the elaboration and adoption of regulations for the implementation of the 2013 Tobacco Product Control Act; and
- the development and adoption of a code of conduct for civil servants that prescribes the standards with which they should comply in their interactions with the tobacco industry.
Together with our partners, we will also continue to collaborate with the Government to implement the recommendations of the Investment Case that will be communicated to you shortly.
Before concluding, allow me to thank the governments of Australia, Norway and the United Kingdom for their funding of the FCTC 2030 project.
Thank you again for your commitment to protect the population of Eswatini from the tobacco epidemic.