DR Fenton Ferguson has singled out then Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller for accepting his arguments, despite opposition from members of his own team, that led to the introduction of the Public Health (Tobacco Control) Regulations 2013 imposed by the People’s National Party Government.

It paved the way for a ban on smoking in public places but has seen limited compliance since, while the Act awaits further amendments by the Parliament.

Now, 10 years after its coming, there continues to be abuse of the law as several people continue to smoke in public places and at events where the practice is outlawed. The Tobacco Control Act was designed to protect the population from exposure to tobacco smoke.

It was piloted by Dr Ferguson while he served as minister of health from 2012 to 2015 and saw some of his Government colleagues opposing it, adding to further opposition from some members of the Jamaica Labour Party at the time. However, it was approved by a majority of the House of Representatives and the Senate, and put into force.

In its infancy those cited with smoking in non-designated areas were issued a ticket which carried a fine of $3,000. But over the years there has been neglect by law enforcers, and on any given day offenders can be seen puffing away in places where the Act prevents them from doing so.

The Sunday Observer last week reported that there had been countless breaches of the Act and that State agencies were passing the buck as it relates to who is responsible for its enforcement.

A joint select committee of Parliament has been looking at further amendments to the Act that was tabled in the House of Representatives on December 1, 2020, which would also see Jamaica move to full compliance with the WHO Framework on Tobacco Control.

It seeks also to limit TAPS — meaning tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship — and suggests, among other things, the protection of children from the deadly habit.

Some health officials have been critical of the Act’s progress, which one described as moving at “snail’s pace”.

The progress that the Act has made 10 years later though makes Simpson Miller worthy of praise, according to Dr Ferguson.

“There was no doubt that I was the one who was leading the charge against tobacco but I will say this, for the first time publicly, that if Portia Simpson Miller as prime minister did not support me and my ministry in bringing forward that legislation it would not have happened because there was much opposition within our ranks,” Dr Ferguson told the Jamaica Observer in a midweek interview.

“If she had joined the band of persons and opposed it — as loud as I was, and nobody knows me to be aggressive but that was one occasion I would want to believe that I would have come across aggressively — the legislation would have died. It was a painful one, not just for me but my family at the time to see how members of my political team were against it.

“Everybody who knows about the Westminster model knows that if the leader and certain political personalities are not supportive, you can run into trouble. If the leader is with you in terms of support, that’s where it is. So, again, I want to thank Portia Simpson Miller for that support,” Dr Ferguson said.

He declined to reveal the names of some of those on the PNP side who opposed supporting the legislation, but the Sunday Observer knew before that a senior Cabinet minister with close ties to the tobacco fraternity was among them.

“We also had a good team in the ministry that was fearless, like Dr Jeanne Dixon as permanent secretary. She had strong views but she was bright and experienced and was very supportive,” Dr Ferguson continued. “And there were others who played key roles, like the Heart Foundation of Jamaica and a young lawyer — who shall remain nameless — who in drafting the legislation was a tower of strength,” Dr Ferguson stated.

“But, again, its sad when you are getting opposition from your own colleagues for something that you know to be good for the people, not on the basis of just a belief but by evidence and data; when you are talking eight million persons dying annually from smoking, 10 per cent of which would have been from second-hand smoke; when you look around at the time you would have seen that over 70 per cent of lung cancer cases were tobacco smokers — and even more would have been as it relates to chronic smoking. I did it as a patriot who loves Jamaica.

“When you would have seen loved ones — friends, relatives, general patients — dying from lung cancer, or persons with LCDs (mainly high blood pressure, diabetes and other kinds of diseases) that would have been further worsened by these who smoke, or being exposed to smokers and you now had to face that kind of battle, it was painful. To further think of what the tobacco industry, led by Carreras, would have done that time, I paid the price politically. But if I had the opportunity again I would have done it the same way. If we had not used Article 14 of the Public Health Act, which gave the minister tremendous power, I would not be able, even with the compromise and the amendments of 2014, to get that far. I say so without fear of contradiction,” Dr Ferguson said.

He said that the introduction of the regulations was supported by the Pan American Health Organization and the World Health Organization, along with “critical stakeholders” across the Caribbean and globally.

“Looking back as the minister in charge at the time, it was a difficult and challenging period. Many would well remember what the ministry and myself as the minister had to go through — in my case internally — from my own political party, even as I should have had from the Opposition then and sections of the country, especially the smokers.

“It was a very lonely moment for me, because while we had the support of the converts and the critical persons within health, what I attempted to do was bring about a piece of legislation that would have been the most far-reaching legislation in health for decades. The fact is that when it came, it did at a time when many would have criticised me to say I came with it like Nicodemus in the night.”

But Dr Ferguson claimed satisfaction at the end of the day, as he was invited by institutions and organisations worldwide to speak on the tobacco and smoking situation in Jamaica. Among them were Harvard School of Public Health in the USA for a round-table talk, and another by the World Heart Federation, which was held in India.

“When we lost government in 2016, or when I left the Ministry of Health for the Ministry of Labour in November 2015, we were way down the wicket with the comprehensive Bill for tobacco control. Today, 10 years later, while they have taken the route of a joint select committee of Parliament we are nowhere relative to commitments coming from the critical people.

“My intention and that of my team in 2013 was to save persons from themselves. I am sure there are persons, looking back now, who — having stopped smoking after the ban in public places, or were convinced by that conversation and discussion in that period — some will live longer and some, I am sure, will be thanking me and my team for what we have done. I have seen people in the plazas who have come to me thanking me for the opportunity that made smoking stop in public vehicles, indoors, etc… these are asthmatics and other persons with respiratory diseases who are experiencing less attacks because of the non exposure.

“I don’t know if anyone would be saying that we are worse off 10 years later than we were prior to when the promulgation was done.

“There has been significant reduction of smoking indoors. You would remember indoor facilities, the stadiums and elsewhere, what it was like for smokers when you were in the grandstand or bleachers and you had a smoker beside you and you had nothing in law to say, ‘My brother or my sister, your smoking is affecting me.’ Now in law, even if the police are not going to come and write a ticket, the offender would know that he is doing something that is anti-social, against the law, and at the same time it is not anything that you would be praised for doing.

“For those around you who are non-smokers, the mortality numbers each year are high, and they have never smoked a cigarette in their lives. So, 10 years later, I saw the article in the Sunday Observer last week and I want to thank the Observer for having picked up back on this conversation because it is a necessary one that has to do with 10 years later and we have not reached anywhere,” Dr Ferguson said.