Dear Editor,

The Jamaica Coalition for Tobacco Control and other public health advocates are dismayed that the promised tobacco control legislation has again failed to materialise.

The most recent announcement of a date for tabling this legislation was made on June 6 when the minister of health addressed a forum to develop a multi-sectoral response to the prevention and control of chronic non-communicable diseases (CNCDs) as part of Jamaica’s preparation for the United Nations High Level Meeting on NCDs in September this year.

The minister promised at that time that the legislation would be tabled within three weeks. Jamaica’s tardiness in honouring its obligations under the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) continues to cause concern at the regional and international levels, with the most recent expression of dismay being an article in the British Medical Journal publication, “Tobacco Control”, on June 25 (tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/20/4/253.full)

Tobacco control addresses the impact of tobacco use on health in relation to national developmental issues, within the context that healthy citizens enhance productivity at all levels and can best provide for their families. The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Treaty, which Jamaica signed and ratified in 2005, also addresses tobacco control in that context.

The Jamaica Coalition for Tobacco Control remains ready to assist the Minister of Health and the Ministry of Health in general so that the measures Jamaica needs to implement are completed. This includes assistance pre- and post-legislation, to sensitise the enforcement agencies as well as the public about the health and economic benefits of the legislation.

Dr Knox Hagley

Chairman

The Heart Foundation of Jamaca

Jamaica Coalition for Tobacco Control

Kingston 5

jctc@infochan.com