53% of tobacco on the market illicit – KNUST report

A report by the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) has revealed that some 53.5 percent of tobacco on the Ghanaian market is illicit.

The research carried out by the School of Public Health of the university on the theme: “Tobacco control capacity program dissemination and engagement” was carried out during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic at the country's border towns.

Speaking at a forum to launch the report, a research fellow of the Tobacco Control Programme Dr. Arte Singh said the finding is worrying and a reflection of the non-compliance to the border closure.

He wants the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) and the government to expedite action on the ratification of the tobacco protocols.

Meanwhile, the FDA said plans are far advanced to see the implementations and enforcement of illicit tobacco protocol treaty which will be imputed into the UN conventions.

This was disclosed by Ms. Olivia Agyekumwaa Boateng, the Chief Regulatory Officer and Head of the Tobacco and substances abuse department of the FDA.