VALD-Ghana recommends measures to protect youth from e-cigarettes ‘shisha’ use

The Vision for Alternative Development - Ghana (VALD-Ghana) has recommended some measures to be undertaken by the Government to protect the younger population from the use of e-cigarettes 'shisha.' Some research studies have suggested that the use of e-cigarettes would reverse decades of progress made in tobacco control, it said. The recommendations, made in one of the recently launched reports, 'Novel and Emerging Tobacco and Nicotine Products in Ghana 2024 by VALD-Ghana,' include the ban on advertisement, promotion and sponsorship activities related to e-cigarettes, vapes, and new tobacco/nicotine products. The rest is the promotion of information campaigns among young people about the harms associated with e-cigarettes while the government legislates a ban on the products in the country. The report said between five to seven per cent of the younger population in Ghana used e-cigarettes, and that although the product had not been licensed commercially, over 100 brands were available on the country's int ernet marketplace. It stated that marketing of the novel products as a less harmful alternative to cigarettes had seen rapid growth in popularity across many countries, including Ghana. 'There is growing evidence to support that smoking e-cigarettes leads to health risks, introduce non-smoking youth to nicotine, and renormalise smoking. The use of novel products as a cessation aid remains inconclusive,' it noted. 'Since any form of tobacco use is addictive and detrimental to health, all forms of tobacco use should be actively discouraged by governments as outlined by the World Health Organisation's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.' Source: Ghana News Agency