FYI. Bwana kiggundu..please subscribe John Alege (consult.al...@gmail.com)
to west nile net so that he can post is interventions directly to this group. Charles ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Pakide Ponyura <pony...@yahoo.com> Date: Sun, 21 Jul 2013 05:35:55 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Re: [Kobokonet] Health ministry embarks on campaign against tobacco farmingPublish Date: Jul 18, 2013 To: koboko...@yahoogroups.com Cc: cdm...@gmail.com Dear Alege: Thanks for your response on the tobacco/alcohol discussion and update on what is happening at the political level as well as your own proposals on the way forward to address these challenges afflicting not only the people of Koboko/west nile BUT the whole of Uganda. I fully agree with your reseaech proposal. As you are aware, many of us are limited in terms of what we can contribute to undertakign research in this area because of the nature of our work. Our brotehrs and sisters from west nile who teach or conduct research at universities and colleges are best positioned conduct research that address real issues affecting the people of west nile. So far, I know that Dr Willy Ngaka is one of few who undertakes research work / programs in the west nile region to address some of the challenges. By the way, I also understand that a new drug called Shisha has entered teh Ugandan market. Apparently, the drug whose origin is not very clear (some say India, others Persia or Turkey), is a glass-bottomed water pipe in which fruit-flavoured tobacco is covered with aluminium foil and roasted with charcoal. The tobacco smoke passes through a water chamber and is inhaled deeply and slowly; the fruit-flavoured tobacco tastes smooth and smells sweet, enthusiasts say, making it an enjoyable and an unrushed experience. (Follow this URL for more info: http://www.observer.ug/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=25837:govt-should-ban-shisha-smoking&catid=35:editorial&Itemid=61 ). For more tobacco related discussion in Uganda please follow the link http://www.tobacco.org/ I would welcome other netters contribution to this discussion. Charles -------------------------------------------- On Fri, 7/19/13, John Alege <consult.al...@gmail.com> wrote: Subject: Re: [Kobokonet] Health ministry embarks on campaign against tobacco farmingPublish Date: Jul 18, 2013 To: koboko...@yahoogroups.com Cc: "A Virtual Network for friends of West Nile" <westnilenet@kym.net> Received: Friday, July 19, 2013, 8:27 AM Dear C. Male, Iyete adruma for sharing with us the article below and your own thoughts on what ought to be done about Tobacco growing and use in Uganda, West Nile and Koboko. My sincere prayer is that this proposed Alcohol Policy is discussed, drafted, ratified and enforced. My fear though is that Uganda as a country has brilliant policy analysts and makers. So many policies have been developed but are not utilised. Countries such as Rwanda come and "borrow" these policies customise them and they end up transforming their communities using these same policies that we have. For example, the latest findings of the corruption perception index 2012 indicates that Uganda is the 130th, while Rwanda is 50th most corrupt country respectively out of the 176 countries sampled in the world. Contrary to the fact that of the two countries, Uganda was the first to proclaim zero tolerance to corruption. Simialrly, we still have the Mairungi / Khat Bill stalling in parliament, I do not know when it will be passed and enforce. I hope it is not a deliberate delay since the recent findings indicate that most Ugandan MPs use drugs. Back to the Tobacco discourse, given an opportunity I would advise the MoH/GoU to develop a detailed "Tobacco phase out Strategy" using a multisectoral approach. The team rolling out the process could include; Psychologists/counsellors, Physicians, Environmetalists, Public Health Specialists, Agriculturalists, Foresters, people from the Education sector and social scientists. The reason is that tobacco growing in Westnile started way back in the 1960s and so each of the sectors I have mentioned above influence or act upon tobacco production and its use in one way or the other. Therefore, a multifaceted approach would be an ideal option, not just organising a one day meeting at the Boma ground or Teremunga will be adequate to pass the information. Otherwise, the Law of the Fifth Descipline will apply where; The more you push for change the more the system pushes back" at the end, the initiative fails and dies off. I would like to challenge all of you including my self to think about doing a retrospective cohort study on the association between exposure to the tobacco carcinogens and the many disease outcome(s), which depend on the nature and duration of exposure. These exposures could occure from handling and managing tobacco and smoking it with the following possible effects; child health arising from child labour in the tobacco fields, exposure to the fertilisers used in the farms without any hand gloves, gumboots and other personal protective equipments. Other exposures arise from curing of the tobacco leaves at the Bani. The justification for such a study is two fold; First, we have always looked at the effects of tobacco growing from the surface. For instance, it leads to famine, deafforestation, school drop out, food insecurity and so forth. We have not taken time to look at its effects 30 - 60 years down the road. Following individuals who started working in tobacco farms while they were minors, up to when they have grown up. The second consideration is that we need to promote evidence-informed decision and policy making. I am cognizant that politicians do not like statistics because they do not have time to analyse and inteprete, but if these statistics can be translated to for instance, number of people who die every month and year due to exposure to tobacco carcinogens over a specified period and in a specific region such as Westnile, it would make more sense and such information can be use to inform Health Policy. I strongly disagree and challenge policies made based on feelings and "I think" basis. Let us put together our thoughts and resources to make home a better place to live in. I will keep my ears on the ground to listen to commentary, suggestions and critique. Until then ! Best,Ilona Alege On 19 July 2013 04:42, Charles Male <cdm...@gmail.com> wrote: Deal All: Hopefully, this effort by the health ministry will once and for all succeed in weaning our people off of tobacco. We recently discussed teh issue of the potent gin sold in 100ml sachets that is killing our people. I am happy to hear that the Ministry of health has finally realized it has to put in place a national policy on the production and consumption of alcohol. I am very aware that tobacco is the only livelihood for many of our farmers. We have time and again discussed and debated the tobacco issue, its adverse impacts such as: taking the most productive lands away from growing useful crops, environmental damage; and health of the population involved in its production and consumption, We hope this time our civil society organizations will join the ministry of health in this overdue endeavour. ***************************** Health ministry embarks on campaign against tobacco farmingPublish Date: Jul 18, 2013 British America Tobacco Uganda workers sorting Tobacco leafnewvision By Pascal Kwesiga The Ministry of health has engaged the civil society and local leaders to drive the campaign against tobacco farming. A principal medical officer in charge of mental health, control of substance abuse and management of neurological disorders, Dr. Sheila Ndyanabangi said Wednesday health workers and leaders of civil society organizations are currently traversing the tobacco growing districts urging farmers to stop growing the crop. “We have embarked on a new campaign to advice farmers to stop planting tobacco. We have already been to West Nile where the crop is grown, we are showing the farmer alternative crops,” Ndanabangi said during the ongoing International Conference for Social Development at Speke Resort Munyonyo hotel in Kampala. She observed that although the trade agreements Uganda signed with the World Trade Organization don’t allow the country to ban tobacco growing, it’s allowed to persuade the farmers to stop growing the crop. Ndanabangi said that tobacco growing is responsible for the high levels of deforestation and food shortage in families of farmers engaged in growing the crop. “There are some families that have concentrated in growing tobacco and they are always hit by famine. We are telling them that they can be well off if they grow other crops instead of tobacco,” she added. The health ministry, she said would carry on the sensitization efforts against tobacco growing until the farmers give up growing of the highly “deadly” crop, adding “ We are also working with local leaders and farmers have welcomed the idea but some may not stop growing tobacco immediately because they have debts with tobacco companies,” Ndyanabangi said the ministry was in the process of drafting a national alcohol policy to regulate its production and consumption. She blamed the increasing psychiatric cases in mental health facilities to drug abuse. Ndyanabangi also partly blamed poverty among the youth to drug abuse. The conference that is attended by 200 doctors, scholars, educators, policy makers, economists, demographers, researchers and social scientists from 40 countries is hosted by Makerere University and Simmons College in the United States. The two institutions won the bid to host the conference two years ago. Prof. Hugo Kamya from Simmons College said the overall aim of the conference is to examine the emerging ideas in social development, uncovering challenges and opportunities around the global and local priorities, human rights, health and millennium development goals ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Kobokonet/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Kobokonet/join (Yahoo! 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