Alarming - quite a large number of the youth and some students

It is amazing the number of our cherished youth who smoke in this country.

Youth victims of this canker surprisingly include Tertiary, Senior High School, and even Junior High School students. 

In one case I chanced upon in my interactions with some youths of one community in one of the Regions in Ghana, a 12 years old boy narrated how he feels when he "highs".

In fact, for the school dropouts, the use of tobacco has become a basic necessity of
life for most of them (both males and females).

Folks, the fear still remains that smoking affects every organ of the body, and you can just imagine having to smoke from this tender age into the next life.

As a matter of fact, most of our elderly, including even some politicians may not have the moral impetus to advise us, the youth, on the use of tobacco as some of them do worse.

It is sad to know that most of our youth who are addicts had the habit passed on to them by parents at homes and in the communities.

For the elderly in the tobacco smoking enterprise the least said about them the better.

Stakeholders must rise and protect the future of our youth.

Indeed, as per the world health organization,
# Tobacco kills up to half of it's users
# It kills 6 million people each year worldwide of which Ghana has our quota in there.

Ghana needs to revise its strategies towards the anti-tobacco fight.

We are only seen on world tobacco day and after that everyone goes back into hibernation.

What has happened to Section 76 of the Public Health Act!!

Why are we failing to provide the needed guidelines to regulate the tobacco industry and its activities?

The Ministry of Health and the Agric Ministry must as a matter of urgency expedite actions on this issue.
The tobacco control Programme must be visible and have youth oriented programmes to save our youth!!!!

The youths of Ghana have great potentials and tobacco cannot be allowed to take that away!!!!!

God bless Ghana!!!
God bless us all!!!

#Amoakohene Frank