YOUNG SLASH FREE
When they quit tobacco we want them to be free of nicotine as well,” said Egbe.Į-cigarettes use a heated coil to vaporise nicotine, which is then inhaled by the user.
“When they market to smokers, they actually want them to switch addictions. The researchers also asked e-cigarette users how long they had been vaping to test the hypothesis that they help users quit cigarettes, and found that more than a fifth (21%) had been using e-cigarettes for more than two years. If e-cigarettes were an effective cessation tool, their use should be much greater among the older age group, she said. The use of e-cigarettes was highest among survey respondents aged between 15 and 24, at 3.1%, and lowest among those aged between 45 and 64, who had the highest prevalence of smoking (28.6%). While 80% of cigarette smokers noticed the warning labels on cigarette cartons, only 35% of smokers in the survey considered quitting because of the labels, she added, pointing out that e-cigarettes were brightly coloured and prominently displayed in shopping malls. She added that 74.4% of respondents said they were exposed to some or other form of smoke in places of public gathering, like pubs, bars and restaurants, and 88.4% of respondents believed South Africa needed an all-out ban of smoking in work places, especially indoors. What you see is, these new products are targeting the youth,” Egbe said. If you have the highest prevalence of cigarette consumption among people aged 45 to 64, you should see the rise among that age group in these alternatives. But they are merely switching addictions. “We hear the industry say that their products help wean smokers off cigarettes. Among emerging products, hookah had a 3.1% prevalence while e-cigarettes had a 2.2% prevalence, the highest among young consumers, she said. GATS-SA specialist scientist Dr Catherine Egbe said there was a 23.9% prevalence of manufactured cigarette consumption countrywide.
GATS-SA conducted its research by surveying 6,311 South Africans, aged 15 and older, with a response rate of 92%. “We are in this situation because we don’t have good laws,” said Mahura, expressing optimism that the measures contained in the Bill would curb smoking and the use of e-cigarettes. The GATS-SA survey found 41.7% of men and 17.9% of women used tobacco products, with an overall adult prevalence of 30.3%. SA’s smoking rates dropped between 19, from 32% to 18%, but have risen since 2016 as the government failed to keep pace with the tobacco industry’s tactics, Mahura said.
YOUNG SLASH UPDATE
Lorato Mahura from the Health Department’s health promotion unit has issued an apology “to the people of South Africa”, saying the failure to update anti-smoking laws and the lack of regulation for new-generation products, including vapes, had caused harm and resulted in damage, reports News24. The new Bill proposes a complete ban on smoking in public places, introduces plain packaging, regulates e-cigarettes, prohibits point-of-sale advertising and scraps vending machine sales. The 2008 Tobacco Products Control Amendment Act currently in force has not been updated in more than a decade and has no measures for regulating new-generation products like vapes, reports Business Day. It will appear in Parliament later this year, say Department of Health officials. The Bill was introduced in 2013 but is listed as a 2018 Bill because it was renamed and updated with restrictions on tobacco product alternatives. The Bill wants to impose regulations on alternatives to combustible cigarettes like vaping products and heating systems, including a ban on marketing, vending machines and public use indoors or outdoors.Īnti-tobacco organisations have vowed to support the Bill and any other measures introduced by the government, to make it as hard as possible for people to access tobacco alternatives. The survey comes as the government and South Africans consider the Control of Tobacco and Electronic Delivery Systems Bill. This was one of the findings of the 2021 Global Adult Tobacco Survey in South Africa (GATS-SA) presented at at a seminar hosted by the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) last week, reports News24. Cigarette alternatives, like vaping, are doing the opposite of what they’re supposed to do: instead of weaning existing smokers off tobacco, they are actually wooing young South African consumers.
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