Tobacco use kills more than 1200 Fijians every year, and 852 (71 per cent) of those deaths are among individuals under the age of 70, which is classified as premature deaths.
The Coalition Cabinet statement noted this statistic as it announced its approval of the release of the Investment Case for Tobacco Control in Fiji Report into the public domain.
It stated the Investment Case Report was completed through collaborative efforts of Fiji’s Ministry of Health and Medical Services, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Secretariat of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), World Health Organisation (WHO), and the Research Triangle Institute International (RII).
The report recommended – to accelerate tobacco control in the country – Fiji to implement five priority tobacco control measures over a span of 15 years, effective from 2020 to be able to achieve its SDG 2030 Agenda Global Goals and 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The five recommendations are:
- increase cigarette taxation to reduce the affordability of tobacco products (WHO FCTC Article 6);
- enforce bans on smoking in public places to protect people from tobacco smoke (WHO FCTC Article 8);
- implement plain packaging (WHO FCTC Article 11 Guidelines, and WHO Article 13);
- enforce a comprehensive ban on all forms of tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship (WHO FCTC Article 13); and
- support reducing tobacco dependence and encourage cessation by training health professionals to provide brief advice to quit smoking (WHO FCTC Article 14).
According to Cabinet, those recommendations will be implemented through appropriate consultation with all relevant partners to ensure Fiji’s tobacco control measures were effective in protecting public health while compliant with the WTO obligations.
