About 20% JSS Pupils Smoke

A survey conducted by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) has revealed that 14.3 per cent of both boys and girls in Junior Secondary School (JSS) have tried smoking.

The survey titled Ghana Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) studied 1,917 JSS students all over Ghana.

It also revealed that 19.5 per cent of JSS students currently use tobacco products including cigarettes, snuff and cigar. Apart from these, 19.3 per cent of them also smoke at home. GYTS aims at documenting and monitoring the prevalence of tobacco use, including cigarette smoking, and current use of smokeless tobacco, cigars and pipes.

According to the survey report, 45.1 per cent of JSS students buy cigarettes from stores. It also revealed that 21.9 per cent of them live in homes where others smoke. In addition, the report said 26.1 percent of the students have one or more parents who smoke, while 6.1 per cent have most or all friends being smokers.

It explained that 39.9 per cent of the JSS students are around others who smoke in places outside their home.

The report which was published in May 2002, established that three out of every student had been offered free cigarettes by tobacco company representatives, while 55.9 per cent had been taught in class about the dangers of smoking in the previous year.

Meanwhile, 34.3 per cent had discussed in class the reasons why people of their age smoke.

In an interview, Prof. Agyeman Badu Akosa, Director-General of GHS, called for a total ban on smoking in public places. He stated that ?people must not smoke to endanger the lives of others,? explaining that ?the burning of leaves, smoking of cigarettes and dust are among the major causes of health problems in Ghana.

He advised that Ghanaians should stop burning papers and instead, recycle them. He said leave for instance could be turned into manure instead of burning them.