By Wezi Tjaronda WINDHOEK The long-awaited legislation that the government is to introduce to ban smoking in public places, is still with the legal drafters. The Tobacco Bill was first drafted between 1992 and 1993, and dragged on and on until 2005 when it was tabbed and adopted in Parliament. The legal drafters are now preparing the Bill as an Act of Parliament – the Tobacco Control Act. If introduced, the law will ban smoking in public places which is blamed for deaths, diseases such as cancers and Tuberculosis, and also stillbirths. Statistics compiled in 2000 in Namibia indicate a smoking prevalence of over 45 percent. In that year, 30 males per 100ÃÆ’Æ‘ÀÃ…ÃÆ”šÃ‚ 000 died of trachea, lung and bronchus cancer, representing a mortality rate of 25.5 percent. The same year 2000 saw 96 males per 100ÃÆ’Æ‘ÀÃ…ÃÆ”šÃ‚ 000 die of lip, oral cavity and pharynx cancer. However, in females fewer deaths were reported from the two categories as seven died from trachea, lung and bronchus cancer at a rate of 4.7 percent, while those who died from lip, oral cavity and pharynx cancer were 37 at a mortality rate of 27 per 100ÃÆ’Æ‘ÀÃ…ÃÆ”šÃ‚ 000. Children are said to start smoking at an age as early as nine and ten years. Among reasons cited for the delay in coming up with legislation are high staff turnover, lack of skills and lack of political drive. Head of the Information, Education and Communication Division in the Ministry of Health and Social Services, Mbashupi Maloboka, told New Era yesterday that the Bill took long to be tabled because the ministry lacks the staff that can work on documents, meaning the same people working on programmes have to do the other work. He also said most staff members lack the legal background to work on legal documents such as Bills. Maloboka felt that lack of drive at political level has also been the cause of delay because, he said, he noticed it is only when other people exert some pressure that the issue comes up. “There is need for a political drive because the part that remains now is the policy part,” he said. Neighbouring South Africa and Botswana and other African countries have banned smoking, especially in public places such as offices, parks, clubs and others, to protect their citizens from the harmful effects of tobacco smoke. “Namibia is lagging behind,” he added. While other countries have whole departments and have appointed focal persons dedicated to mobilizing people against tobacco use and are running programmes, Namibia is yet to do so because the issue was not taken seriously, Maloboka said. Although tobacco has been used since time immemorial, it is a dangerous substance that contains harmful chemicals. It causes cancer of the mouth, lungs and intestines, as well as the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) especially to babies born to smoking mothers. Tobacco smoke also causes stillbirths, tuberculosis and heart attacks. The Bill was aimed at banning smoking, which Maloboka said was for the good of Namibia in its quest for nurturing a healthy nation in the next 10 to 20 years. The Cancer Association of Namibia has repeatedly called for the speedy implementation of a law to ba smoking to protect both smokers and non-smokers. “Smoke is killing, it is dangerous,” said CN Director, Reinette Koegelenberg. Smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer in the country, after skin cancer, she said. Apart from this, she said smoking takes away food and education from children, especially from people who smoke.