Vice-principal of Alexandra’s Emfundisweni Primary School, Patrick Ndange has thrown his full weight behind a campaign to educate children about the dangers of tobacco and smoking.
The campaign, #protectournext, is spearheaded by a team of ambassadors who have been visiting schools in Gauteng this Africa Youth Month to make children aware of the dangers of tobacco, e-cigarettes and vape products. They are also educating children about the Control of Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Services Bill which is before Parliament.
With all Covid-19 protocols observed, the team has received a positive response from educators and learners alike as they enjoy the edutainment on offer and actively participate in discussing the issues the youth face regarding tobacco.
The #protectournext ambassadors will also visit local taxi ranks and malls, strategically selected to align with the schools’ rollout. The project is a partnership between major health organisations including the National Council
Against Smoking (NCAS); the Cancer Association of South Africa (Cansa); the Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Research Unit of the SA Medical Research Council (SAMRC); and the Heart and Stroke Foundation South Africa.
“We want to inspire a tobacco-free generation and we are focused on protecting the younger generation from tobacco industry manipulation and nicotine and tobacco addiction,” said NCAS executive director Savera Kalideen.
“We’re involving young learners to join us as we work to educate, inform and free South Africans from the tobacco epidemic that threatens our next generation. We must take back our health from big tobacco bullies.”
Teachers at the schools visited have welcomed the initiative, saying that children were exposed to and experimented with tobacco at a young age.
“Many of our learners have parents and relatives who smoke. This project will help the children to understand the dangers and to better protect themselves, and we also hope they will take the message home,” said Ndange. “Parents who want to quit are encouraged to reach out to NCAS and Cansa for support.”
Professor Pamela Naidoo of the Heart and Stroke Foundation South Africa said. “Tobacco use and electronic devices have a medium to long-term effect on health outcomes. The earlier one starts to use tobacco and nicotine, the greater one’s risks for heart disease, strokes, other circulatory disorders and respiratory conditions.”
More than 80 per cent of current smokers smoked their first cigarette in their teens, according to Dr Catherine Egbe, the specialist scientist at SAMRC. “The earlier children initiate tobacco use, the more difficult it will be for them to quit,” she said.
“Children and adolescents who use e-cigarettes at least double their chance of smoking cigarettes later in life. The nicotine in tobacco and alternative products such as e-cigarettes is a highly addictive drug that can alter the development of the brains of young people, which are still developing until the age of 25.”
The new bill would require that any indoor public place is 100 per cent smoke-free, and will make certain outdoor public places smoke-free too. It will further ban smoking in private dwellings used for commercial child care and educational activities, and in cars carrying children under 18.
Cigarette advertising at tills and the sale of cigarettes via vending machines, which is a channel for young people to access cigarettes, would also be prohibited.
The Bill seeks to regulate e-cigarettes or vape products as is done with cigarettes. “Our current legislation predates e-cigarettes and manufacturers have used the legislative vacuum to promote these devices and appeal to youth, including marketing e-liquids which come in a number of flavours to make them more appealing to young people.
“We must close the legislative gap and prevent a new generation from becoming addicted to nicotine,” Kalideen concluded.
