Zambia: New Packaging for Tobacco

IT is a fact that tobacco is extremely harmful to health. However, this does not seem to deter many people from smoking. The tobacco problem is a global challenge and because we are living in a global village, trends in one country will most likely spread to others. Recently, the Australian government came up with a law to enforce plain packaging on cigarette packets. The law stipulates that all cigarette packets regardless of the brand be packaged plainly but with images of the various ailments, which tobacco causes. These ailments range from mouth cancer, lung diseases, and respiratory problems, among others.

This did not go down well with the tobacco companies that argued that the value of their trademarks would be destroyed if they were no longer able to display their distinctive colours, brand designs and logos on packets of cigarettes. They took the government to court but the Australian High Court recently upheld the Government's decision to introduce plain packaging. Thus, in December, packets will instead come in a uniformly drab shade of olive and feature dire health warnings and graphic photographs of smoking's health effects. The government, which has urged other countries to adopt similar rules, hopes the new packs will make smoking as unglamorous as possible. Zambia has a law that stops smoking in public.

However, stricter measures are needed especially that many smokers start in their teens. Many countries are now facing the pressure of following Australia's route and Zambia is no exception. Zambia Consumer Association (ZACA) executive director, Muyunda Ililonga has encouraged the Zambian Government to follow suit. According to Mr Ililonga, "the ruling in Australia is a landmark victory for public health globally. It sends a strong message that the industry can be defeated."

The new law will now make it illegal, for example, for the cigarette manufacturers to market cigarettes in 'slim' packages to women to promote the belief that smoking is a way to stay thin and control weight. The tobacco companies have opposed plain packaging more ferociously than any other tobacco control measure because they know that plain packaging would have a major impact on smoking in Australia - and in other countries that might follow Australia's lead.

"The cigarette companies hate nothing more than laws that restrict their ability to sell more cigarettes," says Mr Ililonga, adding that "their legal challenges are destined to fail because the courts accept that more cigarette sales mean more sickness and more deaths, and that governments have a duty to act to reduce these harms." Mr Ililonga advised that a Government determined to protect its people would always succeed regardless of obstacles. "We feel the Government must follow the pioneering journey undertaken by the Australian government in standing up against tobacco." His sentiments that the attractive packaging is one of the ways in which the tobacco industry advertise their deadly products are echoed by Charlie Mumba (not his real name).