Government extending new tobacco rules to Cayman Loop Cayman Islands

Black Immigrant Daily News

Members of the public may soon see changes to Cayman’s tobacco legislation. This is according to statements made at a press briefing last week by Dr Autilia Newton, Cayman’s interim chief medical officer and Sabrina Turner, Minister for Health and Wellness.

Speaking about the development, Minister Turner said:

A significant win for our country [is that] recently the Cayman Islands has become the first United Kingdom Overseas Territory in the Caribbean to request the extension of the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control legislation to our country.

Now, this convention is an evidence-based treaty that addresses another global pandemic that claims seven million lives every year. That’s tobacco.

I am happy and proud to say that this legal framework will allow us to develop and expand more comprehensive approach to tobacco control that will pay dividends in strengthening the health and wellness of our population.

Explaining why the Cayman Islands is now in a position to have the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control extended to the Cayman Islands, Dr Newton said:

To be able to ask for the extension, you have to fill in this table… [which] shows that your local legislation has already been amended to accommodate the framework requirements.

Cabinet wouldn’t have been able to ask for the extension if the work had not already been done.

Now, the people will be assessed by the FCDO colleagues and Department of Health & Social Care in the UK and they will say “yes that’s right.” Then, there is additional legislation that you can introduce which is to do with the graphics on the package and all the elements… and this is then up to us to see whether we want to that order step forward.

The whole point is [to] reduce prevalence of smoking and support people who want to quit smoking.

Because of the anticipated government campaign to reduce the prevalence of smoking which will accompany the foregoing WHO convention extension, Loop News posed the question to Dr Newton whether she had any particular view if the use of tobacco was more dangerous than the use of cannabis.

In response, Dr Newton said:

To answer this question, I would have to prepare a bit better and so, because it’s … you have to review all your literature.

It’s not only me giving you my personal position.

I will have to look at the evidence to give you a more correct answer, a more precise answer.

As a result of these announcements, smokers and non-smokers alike eagerly await the details of the implementation of the extension of the WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control to Cayman.

NewsAmericasNow.com