KATIMA MULILO – Despite the Tobacco Products Control Act having been gazetted into law, there is widespread disregard for the Act with many smokers still defiantly puffing away in public places.
The Tobacco Products Control Act prohibits smokers from smoking in public places.
The Minister of Health and Social Services, Dr Richard Kamwi, raised the concern when he recently addressed environmental health practitioners in Katima Mulilo. The meeting was intended to work out modalities on how to handle the conspicuous disregard for the law among a host of other environmental health challenges.
Kamwi bemoaned the lack of enforcement of the promulgated Act and exhorted the meeting to formulate mechanisms that will address the problem.
“The Tobacco Products Control Act of 2010 has been passed and the Act was signed by the President. As of July the Act was put in force. The first phase of the campaigns has been conducted, the police can even arrest those contravening the law but yet it’s sad when you jump in a taxi or go into a hotel or lodge some people still smoke freely. Why is it that we’re failing to implement the Act and take action? The meeting should come up with innovative ideas,” Kamwi appealed to environmental health professionals that attended the meeting.
According to Kamwi the commitment of environmental health practitioners to their duties would spare the lives of thousands of Namibians whose health are at an increasing risk.
“I wish to remind you that the main reason you should commit yourselves to this profession are the thousands of men, women and children whose lives may be spared if you deliver on those commitments,” said the health minister.
He lamented the prevailing trend of shoddy work of building contractors tasked to build health infrastructure in Namibia noting that environmental health practitioners should form part of quality inspections done on such infrastructure to avoid unnecessary delays.
“The building inspection of infrastructure such as clinics, health centres and maternity wards should be done by environmental health practitioners in line with approved plans. Why is it that we are experiencing this shoddy work? I was very upset in Rundu to a point that I instructed the demolition of a maternity ward,” he revealed.
Kamwi noted that poor workmanship by building contractors cost government not only in monetary terms but in terms of service delivery.
“The report I received in Rundu was that 35 babies were born during one night. That is one of the challenges as our maternity wards are overwhelmed compelling some mothers to deliver on the floor. That’s why we decided to build a maternity ward with a capacity of 120 beds. If you don’t do your work properly, it means you’re depriving these women of better services,” he said.
He also expressed concern about the lack of cleanliness at health facilities adding that the lack of tenacity to tackle this issue by those entrusted with this responsibility has in turn tainted his reputation.
“Newspapers are awash with SMS’s relating to the filthiness of some health facilities to an extent that some are infested with cockroaches. Do you know that you may be contributing to my failure? It is our responsibility to ensure that we put in more effort to ensure the cleanliness of these facilities,” urged Kamwi.
Kamwi further commended the input of environmental health practitioners with regard to the finalisation of the public and environmental and national health bills.
Environmental health practitioners are tasked with the control of communicable and non-communicable diseases, inspection of food products, port health, occupational health and safety at work places, environmental pollution and building inspection of infrastructure among other duties.
By George Sanzila