Smoking and Non-Communicable Diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Nigeria Scenario

Abstract

Smoking remains a strong factor in the emergence of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) and it contributes to the development of cardiovascular diseases, cancers, diabetes mellitus and chronic respiratory disease which are the four leading NCDs worldwide. Non-Communicable Diseases has been implicated in about two thirds of the global premature deaths. However despite the strong evidence of link of smoking to NCDs, the prevalence of smoking is still high among the youths and adults, with an attendant adverse health effects. Nigeria, though a signatory to WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) of 2005, and its recent domestication in National Tobacco Act of 2015, effective operationalization and implementation is still a mirage.