...IN SOUTH AFRICA, ONLY COUNTRY WITH SUCH A BAN LINKS SMOKING, VIRUS
Confirmed COVID-19 cases are rising rapidly in Africa’s most developed economy. But that economy is suffering, and now restaurants, cinemas and even casinos are set to reopen. And allowing people to purchase alcohol again has led to an increase in drunken brawls and traffic accidents, putting added strain on hospitals as they deal with the virus. Yet it’s still illegal to buy a pack of cigarettes.
“It makes no sense,” said Sinenhlanhla Mnguni, chairman of the Fair Trade Independent Tobacco Association, which represents smaller manufacturers. The association challenged the ban in court and lost. Another case, with global industry giant British American Tobacco taking the government to court, has begun.
South Africa is the only country in the world to have a ban on tobacco sales in place after India and Botswana lifted theirs.
The government says it’s putting the health of its people first as the respiratory disease spreads. The World Health Organization advises people to give up smoking during the pandemic and says smoking is linked to a higher risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19 in hospitalized patients, although it was unable to specify exactly how much greater those risks might be. But in the scientific brief published this week, the U.N. health agency also said there currently are no studies to show if smokers were more susceptible to actually contracting COVID-19.
The South African government has been hotly criticized for not publishing the science it said it relied on three months ago.
That showed a “Just do what we say, we know best” attitude from the government, said Joleen Steyn Kotze, an expert on democracy and governance in South Africa. She warned the lack of transparency might foster a general distrust when the government needs citizens more than ever to cooperate.
Confirmed COVID-19 cases are rising rapidly in Africa’s most developed economy. But that economy is suffering, and now restaurants, cinemas and even casinos are set to reopen. And allowing people to purchase alcohol again has led to an increase in drunken brawls and traffic accidents, putting added strain on hospitals as they deal with the virus. Yet it’s still illegal to buy a pack of cigarettes.
“It makes no sense,” said Sinenhlanhla Mnguni, chairman of the Fair Trade Independent Tobacco Association, which represents smaller manufacturers. The association challenged the ban in court and lost. Another case, with global industry giant British American Tobacco taking the government to court, has begun.
South Africa is the only country in the world to have a ban on tobacco sales in place after India and Botswana lifted theirs.
The government says it’s putting the health of its people first as the respiratory disease spreads. The World Health Organization advises people to give up smoking during the pandemic and says smoking is linked to a higher risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19 in hospitalized patients, although it was unable to specify exactly how much greater those risks might be. But in the scientific brief published this week, the U.N. health agency also said there currently are no studies to show if smokers were more susceptible to actually contracting COVID-19.
The South African government has been hotly criticized for not publishing the science it said it relied on three months ago.
That showed a “Just do what we say, we know best” attitude from the government, said Joleen Steyn Kotze, an expert on democracy and governance in South Africa. She warned the lack of transparency might foster a general distrust when the government needs citizens more than ever to cooperate.
