Impact of Smoking in a Tobacco-Growing Developing Country: A Review

The chapter reviews the impact of smoking on a developing country whose economy heavily depends on growing tobacco. Other than the pollution of the air caused by tobacco smoke, large areas of forestry land is destroyed, and huge losses are incurred due to perennial veldt fires. These would damage properties, flora, and fauna, and in some cases human life is lost. Public health bill is increasing annually to carter for smoking-related cancer which has become the major killer disease ahead of HIV/AIDS in the country. The levying of excise duty on cigarette sales to control tobacco smoking is not deterrent enough. There has been a marked increase in smoking by the youth of school-going age, and this risk behavior has been attributed to excessive exposure to intense advertising by the tobacco industry. Weak legal framework has not done enough to enforce tobacco smoking control, prohibition of public smoking, and sale of tobacco to the under-aged individuals. It was established that the common view that the thriving tobacco industry is responsible for key economic exports does not promote initiatives to reduce cigarette smoking.