Members of Parliament are divided over a clause in the Tobacco control bill 2014 seeking to force a smoker to buy a whole packet of cigarette as a deterrent for youth not to smoke. A number of MPS while at a meeting  organized by Uganda National Health Users’/Consumers’ Organization at Serena Hotel in Kampala some say they want a law imposing a restriction on the sale of a stick of cigarette so as youth and low earning people are not exposed to high consumption of tobacco products which are harmful to their health.

Kalungu West MP Joseph Ganzaga Sewungu said that people should be given their rights to buy one stick. The woman MP for Bundibugyo  district, Harriet Ntabazi,  opposed  the idea  of selling one stick of cigarette because it  compromises the health of Ugandan who cannot in future  get required treatment fees for tobacco related diseases.

The shadow Minister for health Dr. Lulume Bayiga said that the Tobacco control bill 2014 is also intended to protect children from exposure to tobacco products which can damage children tissues at an early age.

The Tobacco control bill seeks to have a clause barring youth below 21 years from smoking. The Manager of the Centre for Tobacco Control in Africa (CTCA) Dr. Prosy Mugyenyi said that the label of graphics on tobacco products must have health warnings, visible and scaring all those who smoke in public, informing its citizens about the deadly consequences of tobacco use.

On another note the Technical Advisor on the occupational safety and Health standards in the ministry of Gender, labour and social Development Dr. Deogratious Sekimpi says that the new Tobacco control bill which is before parliament will be fully implemented to catch the smokers who abuse other people’s right of living in a free tobacco zone. He said that the new law will be a voice for the non-smoking people against smokers.

The debate on the Tobacco control bill 2014 is expected to start today in parliament.