Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Activists involved in tobacco control are calling upon African governments to fund scientific research aimed at eliminating the use of tobacco-related products. The call was made on Tuesday during the first Africa Conference on Tobacco Control and Development. According to the scientists, while many countries …
Read More »Covid-19, gov’t regulations impact tobacco revenues and taxes
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda’s formal tobacco Industry continues to be impacted by a growing trade in illicit products, attributed to government policies which are otherwise aimed at protecting the industry. These include the implementation of anti-smoking regulations as well as the tax measures that are largely aimed at …
Read More »Gov’t does not yet have sh1.5 billion needed to implement Tobacco Act
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda’s Ministry of Health has not been able to fully implement the Tobacco act due to funding gaps. According to officials, initially, Shs1.8 billion was budgeted to fully implement the law countrywide. However, more than five years since the law was passed, little has …
Read More »BATU beats COVID-19 to post Shs19.9bn net profit
The government takes a huge chunk of revenues as taxes to reduce tobacco smoking Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | British American Tobacco Uganda has defied the effects of coronavirus pandemic to record a 27% surge in net profit to Shs19.9bn for the year ended December 2020. BATU will now …
Read More »MPs demand framework for payment of Bunyoro tobacco farmers
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Members of Parliament have asked the government to explain circumstances under which Tobacco farmers from Bunyoro sub-region, who are owed money by private companies will be paid off. The matter follows a supplementary budget request of 291 billion Shillings, which among others, proposes an …
Read More »Tobacco responsible for 20% of deaths from coronary heart disease
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Every year, 1.9 million people die from tobacco-induced heart disease, according to the World Health Organization, World Heart Federation and the University of Newcastle Australia ahead of World Heart Day, marked on 29 September. This equates to one in five of all deaths from …
Read More »WHO launches initiative to help 1.3 bln people quit smoking
Kampala, Uganda | XINHUA | The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Friday that it’s launching an initiative to help 1.3 billion tobacco-users worldwide kick the habit during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The Access Initiative for Quitting Tobacco will help people freely access the resources they need to quit tobacco, …
Read More »WHO urging countries to revamp awareness on dangers of tobacco consumption
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The World Health Organization (WHO) lists flavours appealing to young people in smokeless tobacco, Shisha and e-cigrattes among the latest tobacco and related industry tactics to attract younger generations. They also list advertising and product placement on movies and social media platforms with paid influencers …
Read More »MPs worry over new taxes on cigarettes
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Legislators on the Parliament Committee of Finance have expressed concern over proposed increase of taxes on cigarettes saying they will hit hard tobacco farmers and companies at a time everyone needs cushion to recover from coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis. In the 2020/21 financial, Uganda proposes …
Read More »Parliament passes law restricting export of unprocessed tobacco
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Parliament passed the Tobacco Control (Amendment) Bill, 2020 scrapping taxation on processed tobacco restricting it on the unprocessed leaf for export. The Chairperson of the Committee on Finance, Hon. Henry Musasizi, in his report to Parliament said that the tax measures are meant to …
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