NTCA advocates for sustainable tobacco control funding

By Mashe Umaru Gwamna

The Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance( NTCA) has advocated for a sustainable tobacco control funding.
The group made the disclosure recently during an inaugurate meeting of the National Tobacco Control Budget Advocates (NATOBA) in Abuja.
The group was inaugurated with the mandate to advocate for improved and sustained funding for tobacco control activities in the country.
The 2023 Appropriation Act makes provision for the sum of ₦4.7 million for the implementation of the National Tobacco Control Act, 2015 and its Regulations of 2019.
This amount is a 50% drop from the 2022 allocation. The unfortunate slash in the tobacco control budget has been greeted with dissatisfaction by the tobacco control community.
Tobacco kills over 8 million people globally, and in Nigeria, tobacco use is responsible for the loss of over 28, 000 lives annually.
In the face of this public health challenge, tobacco control measures designed to deal with the menace are grossly underfunded by the Federal government.
Members of the group are drawn from civil society and the media, they will vigorously engage the FG to ensure that tobacco control budgeting is prioritized and improved upon.