Rotuma has been declared a ‘tobacco free’ island in commemoration of World No Tobacco Day celebrated this week.
The Ba Mission Hospital also joined the stand against tobacco use by declaring the hospital as a ‘tobacco free’ zone.
Sub-divisional medical officer Ba, Dr Luse Buinimasi said the initiative to declare the hospital as a ‘tobacco free’ zone was put together by the Non –Communicable Diseases (NCD) sub-divisional committee.
“This is a proud achievement for us to join other hospitals in advocating for such a cause,” she said.
The theme for this year’s celebration is ‘Framework for Convention on Tobacco Control’.
The theme is actually a treaty addressing the global tobacco epidemic and which has been signed by 172 countries including Fiji.
Fiji has fully complied with obligations of the treaty for example amendments have been made to the Tobacco Act 1998 resulting in the Tobacco Control Decree 2010.
The decree places stricter controls, accompanied with harsher penalties for breaches, on the use and sale of tobacco.
Under the decree, sales of tobacco is restricted to persons under 18 years and only licensed businesses can sell tobacco.
Police officers are mandated by the decree to monitor retailers, public places such as bus stands and internet cafes to ensure compliance.
A registration exercise for all importers, manufacturers and retailers is being carried out to end in December.
The National NCD STEPS survey for 2002 shows that 47 percent of the population smoke on a daily basis.
Of the 47 percent, about 36.6 percent fall between the ages of 25 to 29.
The survey also revealed more males then females smoke.
Fiji is the third country in the world and first developing country to adopt the World Health Organisation (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).