| 'Fatal Attraction - Kenyan's Lethal Love Affair With Tobacco.' |
|---|
A PAPER PRESENTED BY DAVID OGOT snr. TO THE ANGLICAN CATHEDRAL OF KENYA (ACK) NAIROBI DIOCESE, AT THE St. STEPHENS CHURCH, JOGOO ROAD, NAIROBI ON WEDNESDAY 6th. AUGUST 2003.
How do we continue to smoke in spite of all the mountains of evidence that show cigarette smoking to be harmful to our health? Nobody likes admitting or owning up to being stupid. Smoking cigarettes is by its very nature doing something that is so blatantly idiotic, illogical and dangerously harmful to ones health and we know this yet we continue smoking.
Kenyans would rather continue rationalising on their reasons for continued use than make an effort to quit or admit that they had been stupid all along. Then of course there is the addiction to nicotine and like any other addiction is characterised by loss of control over use.
You hear rationalisations like "don't believe everything you read", "I can stop any time I like", "my grandfather died when he was 100 years old and he smoked filterless cigarettes and a pipe" or even more ludicrous "they will find a cure for cancer before I die."
For a long time it was generally thought that cigarette smoking or other tobacco use such as snuff and chewing tobacco was merely habit forming. In spite of many smokers who were observed to be unable to stop in spite of dozens of futile attempts to stop this belief took many years to dispel when it was finally scientifically proved that tobacco caused dependence with the culprit that causes this addiction being the drug nicotine.
Today even though the evidence connecting tobacco growing and use to serious and even fatal health realted complications and diseases not much of this information is being effectively disseminated in third world countries like Kenya. In fact a lot of tobacco companies are relocating to poorer third world countries where these governments soon become 'hooked' onto the millions paid annualy by these companies in the form of taxes.
At the same time many of these companies were already present by the time these counties were getting independance when not as much was known about the adverse effects of tobacco on the farner, individual and society as a whole and so the complete intricate structure had spread its' poisonous tentacles throughout all facets of Kenyans' life.
From the farmer who was growing the crop, to those employed at the factories to wholesale and retail traders, share-holders in the tobacco companies, the media and the advertising industries and hence their families both immeidiate and extended have all come to depend on this crop to such an extent that any attempt to control or limit the tobacco industry usually elicits howls of complaint from those concerned. Those people with vested interests in this killer trade.
What the kenyan government has failed to take into account is the number of citizens in whom they are investing heavily in turning into proffesionals who will later be unable to pay back this investment due to ill health or death.
The loss to companies as well for it is now an unarguable scientific fact that the regular user of tobacco products, particularly cigarettes has a higher chance of becoming and remaining sick for long periods or until they finally die than non-smokers.
American cigarette companies are compensating for declining sales in American markets due to reduced consumption by increaisng sales abroad especially developing countries like Kenya. According to available figures, smoking in the industrialised world is decreasing by about 1% each year.
But in Asia and Latin America the incidence of smoking is growing 7% faster than the population. But in Africa it is growing at a terryfyingly 18% faster.
But at the end of the day, smoking is a learned behaviour as nobody is born a smoker although
you can find a new born baby being in an environment where someone smokes. Why young people start
smoking:
Because smoking cigarettes is a learned behaviour it is logical to accept that modelling acts as a spur to experiment with smoking. Here young Kenyans tend to smoke so as to emulate or model their behaviour after other smokers whom they admire or with whom the share certain types of social and emotional bonds.
This is especially true of young adolecents (14-17) where their smoking behaviour correlates with the smoking behaviour of slightly older peers and very young adults (18-22) older siblings and parents. At the same time the very young and attractive models used in tobacco (and beer) advertisments may be seen by these adolescents to be closer to their age than they really are.
Modelling is extremely evident when smoking is a part of a peer groups initiation or membership criteria. If this risk taking or thumbing of noses at adults or others in authority is common to the group then this smoking becomes the most constant behaviour that identifies and bonds the group. This then is especially true of those young persons who lack ability to resist peer preassure and they thus inevitably cannot escape smoking as they desperately seek to join or be accepted by the group
Effects smoking on individual:
Effects smoking on workplace:
Effects smoking on family:
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