Nigerian News Beat

While applauding the Lagos State House of Assembly for recently passing the bill banning smoking in public places in the state, some groups have solicited the same speedy feat to be repeated at the federal level where the National Tobacco Control Bill (NTCB) is yet to be given the requisite attention and pride of place.

The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) and Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) presented a joint statement to the media on the urgency for the lawmakers at the national level to prioritise the health and wellness of the citizens by speeding up work on the Bill to make it law. They also advised the lawmakers to put aside party sentiments and personal ambitions in order to confront a common challenge, which the tobacco menace poses to the nation.

For them, the visibility that British American Tobacco Nigeria (BATN) intended to create by ingratiating with elected representatives is proof that the company is unrelenting in its ploy to pull wool over the eyes of Nigerians. The company, it said  is now oiling its so-called corporate social responsibility initiatives which are to effectively thwart legislation that would regulate the marketing, sale and product of its lethal products in Nigeria.

“The passage of the tobacco control bill and its implementation will save us from further deaths and the health complications of the young generation. In all ramifications, the bill will be a vital legislation to hold the tobacco companies accountable for their deception,” it he added.

Chronicling the state of the bill which have passed the first and second reading and is awaiting  public hearing after  work is done by the Joint Committee on Justice and Health,  the  Director, Corporate Accountability, ERA/FoEN, Mr. Akinbode Oluwafemi  announced that everyone is awaiting the fast tracking in the mode of the legislation, adding that efforts should  be made for the legislators to be weary of the antics employed by the tobacco companies which is meant to stall any of such bills from becoming law. For him, Nigeria is obligated by the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) which Nigeria signed in 2004 to domesticate those provisions of the bill which are to: ban all tobacco adverts and promotion, hundred percent smoke-free policies, ban of sales to minors, taxation issues and improvement on several other measures like education and public awareness etc.

“We’ve seen a lot of African countries initiating tobacco control laws. Every country is now moving to protect their citizens from the hazards of tobacco smoking. Nigeria is the last frontier for tobacco control on the continent, the last war front. There is no cigarette manufacturing plant again almost across the West African belt. They are having them in Nigeria. It’s no doubt that the industry is putting the most outrageous efforts. For them, the market is huge and the backlash is also huge on both sides. If Nigeria gets it right, the entire region will get it right,” he stated.

Further acknowledging the various efforts made by different state governments in putting up laws to protect citizens in their various states and constituencies, the co-ordinator, Coalition Against Tobacco, Onaolapo Olatoyosi in her  remarks complained on why such pragmatic actions isn’t felt at the federal level. Reeling out the various actions by their group at the federal level which dates back to 2006, Olatoyosi noted that it was unfortunate that a lot of politics had come first against the health and lives of the masses.

 

One in five lung transplant patients are given organs from 20-a-day smokers, research has  revealed.

Overall, almost a half of donated lungs come from someone who had smoked, according to a major  British study.

Using lung transplants from smokers is a way of boosting supply as there is a constant shortage of donor organs.

But for one in five patients, their donors had smoked a packet a day or more for at least 20 years.

Despite this, the researchers said patients' survival rate  was not harmed by receiving  a smoker's lung and the research should ease patients' fears about donors who had smoked.

The study showed that patients who received lungs from non-smokers actually had a slightly lower one-year survival rate. The research was carried out at Harefield Hospital in north-west London. 

A teenager is being forced to attend an all-boys school because he is dangerous to women - at least if they're pregnant.

Bryant Hackett, 14, has been diagnosed with cytomegalovirus (CMV) and has been told by medics he is to avoid close contact with expectant women for the foreseeable future.

Although the virus is not causing Bryant to suffer any symptoms, it could be harmful if contracted by a pregnant woman.

He is even unable to have any contact with his sister Terri Wooton, 20, who is expecting a baby in a few weeks’ time.

Bryant, of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, said: ‘I miss my sister a lot and can’t wait until she gives birth. She is due in a few weeks.’

Bryant was diagnosed with the virus in July of last year after a rare strain of hepatitis he believes he picked up while on holiday in Majorca left him with a catalogue of health problems.

It caused him to develop liver failure and end up a with a blood platelet count of just four – the normal level is between 150 and 400.

He suffered bone marrow failure and had to have two bone marrow transplants which first required him to have chemotherapy to clear his existing bone marrow.

He was left with a weakened immune system, which caused him to contract pneumonia which his mother says almost killed him.

After undergoing the bone marrow transplants last year, he spent five months in isolation in the Royal Victoria Infirmary, in Newcastle, receiving chemotherapy.

Following his recovery, he had been due to start at a co-ed school.

However, after doctors told him he was suffering from CMV, which is harmful to unborn babies, he has been forced to attend a boys-only school instead.

CMV is a common virus that is part of the herpes family of viruses.

It causes few symptoms in most people and so most do not know they are infected.

Once someone has been infected, the virus stays in their body for the rest of their life without usually causing problems.

However, it can sometimes cause symptoms if a person has a weakened immune system, for example, if they are having chemotherapy.

CMV can also cause serious problems if a woman becomes infecting during pregnancy as this can lead to hearing loss and learning difficulties in the baby.