Women smoke more than men in Ghana – WHO survey

More young women in the country are engaged in various forms of smoking on a daily basis than their male counterparts, a new survey by the World Health Organisation (WHO) has revealed on the back of the rise in cancer, heart and lung-related diseases in recent times.

It says, while traditional ciga­rette smoking may be on the low, ‘Shisha,’ which is a heated tobacco product smoked through a water pipe, was rife particularly among persons 18 to 29 years, across the country.

“More than half of current tobacco smokers report smoking on a daily basis. Among daily

 smokers, 73.6 per cent smoked manufactured cigarette with indi­viduals consuming three sticks of manufactured cigarettes per day on the average.

Among daily smokers, young­er persons began smoking at an earlier age compared to their older counterparts. The proportion of current smokers who smoke Shisha is 7.8 per cent, which is more prevalent among age group 18 to 29 years and highest among women,” it revealed.

Launched in Accra on Friday, the “Ghana STEPS Survey 2023” is a household-based survey that collected data on the risk factors for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) to serve as a baseline for effective response and manage­ment.

Sampling over 5,000 respon­dents across all 16 regions, the report exposed key findings on physical activity, dietary habits, car­diovascular health, oral and mental wellbeing contributing to the NCD burden in order to help inform public messaging and shape health policies as Ghana strives to achieve universal health coverage and goal three of the Sustainable Develop­ment Goals (SDGs) by 2030.

Principal Investigator and Deputy Director of Disease Surveillance at the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Dennis Laryea, who presented findings of the survey, expressed concern over the increasing rate of females smoking shisha in the country which holds dire consequences for the future.

“Once females take up some­thing, it’s easier to drag the males along. And once we’re seeing this in younger women, it also means that they are likely to grow up with it and that is a potential risk there for our development,” he stated.

Dr Laryea disclosed that while ‘Shisha’ may be portrayed as a trendy, favourable substance, it was highly harmful as it contained chemical which could be more dangerous to one’s health due to the longer smoking sessions.

The Public Health Specialist called for the strict enforce­ment of existing regulations on cigarette smoking in the country including implementing danger signs and warnings on cigarette packs, banning advertisement and erecting signage’s to highlight the harmful effects of cigarette smoking.

The Minister of Health, Dr Benard Oko Boye, in a speech read on his behalf, stated that the report would serve as a strong ad­vocacy tool for public education and resource mobilisation.

“We are committed to using this evidence to inform policy, and as a foundation for strong partnership aimed at strength­ening Ghana’s healthcare system against the threat of NCDs,” he added.

For his part, the WHO Coun­try Representative, Dr Frank Lule, said comprehensive strategies to address NCDs risk factors were crucial for mitigating the burden in the country.

“The results of this survey will be key in evaluating Ghana’s 2022-2027 Multi-sectoral Action Plan for NCDs and hope the rich data will be utilised effectively by both health and non-health actors to really design appropriate inter­vention which would ultimately reduce the NCDs burden in Ghana,” he indicated.