The Deputy Secretary General in Productive and social Sector of EAC, Jessica Elliyo, has said Rwanda ranked least EAC country on deaths attributable to tobacco.
The findings from the research indicate that, 16% of Rwandan men do smoke while 3.6% of women smoke too and the research further shows that, 1.3 billion people worldwide are tobacco consumers and this results into six million annual deaths.
By 2030, tobacco will kill over 8 million people worldwide if no measures taken by governments.
While officiating the opening of the 4th East African Health and scientific conference in Kigali, Prime Minister Dr. Pierre Damien Habumuremyi revealed that Parliament has approved the law governing tobacco control in Rwanda.
During the conference, participants raised the issue of taxing all tobacco products and increase tobacco taxes in order to reduce the use and generate revenue for government programs that advance public health.
The proportion of death attributable to tobacco varies between 1-2% of all deaths in the EAC countries and Tanzania ranks the highest with 5,935 followed by Kenya with 3,239, Uganda has 1,881, Burundi (918) and Rwanda (378) as the least.
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