Women must support CSOs to advocate gender responsiveness into tobacco control policies

Tobacco control stakeholders have urged women to actively support Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) with strong advocacy, to integrate gender responsiveness into tobacco control policies in Ghana.   

They said this would help save the lives of several young women and girls from tobacco-related illnesses and destruction.  

The stakeholders, comprising representatives from the Food and Drugs Authority, Ghana Revenue Authority, and CSOs at a panel discussion, noted that tobacco consumption by women, particularly e-cigarette, was becoming alarming and almost at par with that of men.  

They said to this end, there was the urgent need for women to be actively involved by backing CSOs and other relevant agencies, to make a strong case for raising excise taxes on tobacco products, especially the e-cigarette or to ban it from the country.  

They made the call at a stakeholder dialogue meeting on Mainstreaming Gender Responsiveness into Ghana’s Tobacco Fiscal Policies, organised by the Vision for Accelerated Sustainable Development (VAST Ghana) in Accra, supported by Tax Justice Network Africa.  

It was attended by representatives from government institutions, CSOs, academia, development partners, the media, and other relevant stakeholders, to examine the gendered dimensions of tobacco use and tobacco-related harm in Ghana.    

The participants explored how gender considerations could be more effectively integrated into tobacco taxation, fiscal policies, and broader tobacco control interventions.   

They also identified practical approaches for strengthening equitable and gender-responsive tobacco control policies in Ghana.  

Dr Divine Darlington Logo of the Research and Development Division of the Ghana Health Service who presented a research on Tobacco Excise Tax, said gender-responsive fiscal policy does not mean different tax rate by sex.  

He stated that young people were strongly price-responsive, and that keeping tobacco less affordable could reduce consumption and discourage initiation.  

Dr Logo noted that lowering tobacco use meant fewer tobacco-related diseases and avoidable pressure on the health system, stating that tobacco spending could crowd out food, health and other household priorities.  

He urged stakeholders to track who benefitted and who bore cost – by sex, age, income, product and region, pointing out that tobacco excise tax is not only a finance policy – it is a prevention, public-health and equity policy, and a gender-responsive approach could contribute to Sustainable Development Goal five (SDG 5).  

Mr Labram Musah, the Executive Director of VAST Ghana said the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) provided an important foundation in Article 4.2 (d) as a guiding principle.   

“It urges states to consider the need to take measures to address gender-specific risks when developing tobacco control strategies,” he pointed out, and that it recognized the relationship between gender and tobacco control and has called for gender-responsive approaches to tobacco control.   

Mr Musah stated that Article ‘6’ of the WHO FCTC was particularly relevant to the discussion and that it recognised price and tax measures as an effective and important means of reducing tobacco use.   

“Effective tobacco taxation reduces affordability, discourages initiation and encourages cessation while generating substantial domestic revenue,” he said.  

He said, “The question before us for this dialogue is whether we are designing and implementing our tobacco fiscal policies in a way that recognises differences in exposure, vulnerability, consumption or use and health consequences across population groups.”