A survey done in the UK has shown children as young as 10 are smoking. A poll of more than 1,000 youngsters who took Key Stage Two SATs last year found eight had smoked before the tests, while 37 ate chocolate and 30 used high-sugar and caffeine drinks.
With tobacco advertising banned in many Western countries, cigarette manufacturers are increasingly targeting countries in Africa.
And more and more Africans are taking up the habit. African countries are experiencing the highest increase in the rate of tobacco use amongst developing countries.
Cigarette smoking in Africa – in particular in countries like Egypt and Nigeria – is growing by a record 3.5% a year, according to the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO).
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), smoking cigarettes kills almost five million people worldwide every year and drains the continent’s already impoverished public health services as the cost of treating tobacco-related disease soars.
Some African countries are trying to stop their citizens from becoming smokers. Tanzania and Uganda have banned smoking in public places and countries like Ghana, Kenya and Mauritius have ratified the WHO tobacco control treaty, which promises to increase tax on tobacco sales, introduce smoking bans and reduce tobacco production.
But Malawi – the world’s biggest grower of burley tobacco, used by manufacturer as a filler in cigarettes – has not. It fears the millions of people who depend on tobacco for their livelihoods will be pushed into poverty.
