A plan of action is being implemented to facilitate discussion and education on a tobacco-free environment in Dominica.
A workshop on “Creating Smoke – Free Environment in Public Places” was convened on October 5, 2010, at the Fisheries Complex in Roseau, for Public Officers in Middle Management.
The workshop was organized by the Ministry Health Departments’ of Health Promotion Resource Centre (HPRC) and the National Drug Prevention Unit (NDPU) with funding and technical assistance provided by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
Chairperson, Helen Royer, Coordinator Health Promotion, commended the team for this initiative and told participants they will be mandated to assist in promoting such initiative in their workplaces.
In an overview of the workshop, Research Officer at NDPU Martha Jarvis, explained that this workshop was as a result of a 2009 regional workshop to evaluate the work done by the CARICOM countries which had signed on to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC): namely monitoring tobacco use and prevention policies, protecting people from tobacco smoke, offering help to quit tobacco use, warning about the dangers of tobacco, enforcing bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship and raising taxes on tobacco. Dominica is signatory to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).
Participants of the 2009 regional training were given the task to design and implement a project for the full implementation of the FCTC and hence the “Tobacco Free Initiative” project which will be piloted in the Government Headquarters. This project aims to sensitize and educate public servants so that a policy on smoke-free environments can be implemented.
Facilitators included Jacinta Bannis, Director of Drug Prevention Unit, Anthelia James, Health Educator, at Health Promotion Resource Centre and Lead presenter, Joan Henry, Retired Health Promotion Coordinator.
Director of National Drug Prevention Unit told the group of public servants that tobacco is the single most preventable cause of death in the world and that annually it kills more than five million people per year (WHO, 2009). Utilizing the results of the 2006 Drug Prevalence Survey which was done among school-based youth in Dominica, Ms. Bannis said, ‘Tobacco use is dangerous and is already affecting the very young among us.” She noted that regionally there are best practices which can be patterned on. She made reference to Barbados which recently passed legislation to ban smoking in public spaces. She further explained that as Dominica seeks to enjoy a larger stake in the Tourism Industry, that legislation like these would be imperative since tourists must not leave their countries where they enjoy smoke-free environments and come on vacation with the intention to enjoy themselves and then have to deal with the difficulty of finding smoke-free destinations.
Anthelia James provided a situational analysis as regards Chronic Non Communicable Diseases – CNCD in Dominica and its linkage with the tobacco-free initiative.
The objective of the presentation was to promote awareness on CNCD situation and their risk factors among public servants. The Health Educator reviewed the leading causes of death in Dominica for the periods 1991-1995, and 2001-2005, as provided by the office of the Health Information Unit, at the Princess Margaret Hospital.
She called on all public officers to adopt healthy lifestyles which should include advocating to ensuring that their work environments are smoke-free and further to advocate for policy and legislation.
Health and Wellness Consultant, Joan Henry, examined the relevant articles of the FCTC as regards creating smoke free policy within the workplace. Henry also explored the harmful effects of second hand smoke in humans, the various types of smoke-free workplace policies that presently exist, the benefits of having a smoke-free workplace policy and the common issues that will surface during the planning process.
Most importantly, the Health and Wellness Consultant told the participants that it is their personal responsibility to take action to ensure that their environment whether at work or at home can be kept smoke-free as far as is possible.
One of the pertinent suggestions coming out from the workshop was the need to conduct similar workshops with the Committee of Permanent Secretaries, so that they would be familiar with the articles in the FCTC and will be able to identify with the issues that will surface once public officers begin advocating for this smoke-free policy within the workplace.
I guess by the time they get that legislation together many Dominicans will have been affected, if not dead because of cigarette smoking. I call on them again to spend one day in Picard, Portsmouth, right at the front the Bulls Eyes Pharmacy, across from Ross University. While we all appreciate Ross and its impact on Dominica, it’s unbelievable to see the amount of Ross students that gather at the front of the pharmacy, on an hourly basis, as though it is the designated smoking area. I mean these guys are medical students and the ought to know that those that are not smoking are at greater risk than those smoking. Furthermore, right at the entrance to the University has No Smoking signs posted because smoking in public is a no no in the US. We just allow anything in Da. I called the ministry several times to report that but not a thing has been done about it. We might be too late now to stop the damage to our people
BAN SMOKING IN PUBLIC PLACES NOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!