By Watipaso Mzungu
Frontline healthcare providers from 57 public hospitals and health centres in Malawi’s Lilongwe and Mzimba districts will undergo a series of capacity building training on tobacco harm reduction (THR) and smoke cessation programmes.
The Center for Development Management (CDM) is conducting these series of capacity building training with financial support from the Global Action to End Smoking following revelations from previous studies, which indicated that majority of the frontline health workers in Malawi lack the necessary training and resources to deliver effective THR and smoke cessation services.
CDM Principal Investigator Alexander Thomas Mboma disclosed that tobacco use is a leading cause of preventable illness and death globally, with Malawi facing an increasing burden of tobacco-related diseases such as cancer, hypertension, diabetes, and respiratory conditions.
But Mboma was quick to point out that previous studies found that about 11 percent of people that smoke in Malawi, with the proportion showing that more men are tobacco users.
He, however, expressed optimism that the projection may go down to 10 percent in 2025.
“But still even with a social behavior, we’re so not sure if we’ll indeed go down or not, but the statistics are quite high, more than most of the epidemics that we see, like HIV, diabetes and others. So, it’s against this background that they decided to secure funding from the Global Action to End Smoking for building the capacity of healthcare providers in THR and smoke cessation services,” he said.
“And these trainings are also part of the study, which we are conducting to evaluate the effectiveness of different training models for enhancing frontline health workers’ capacity to deliver THR and smoke cessation interventions,” added Mboma, further emphasizing that the ultimate goal of the study is to equip healthcare providers to garner knowledge and skills for helping people to quit smoking, which they cannot do at the moment.
Additionally, CDM wants to create an awareness among the community members that they can be able to go the hospital and access some help if they want to, if they want to, people smoke.
“We’ve got about 57 facilities across two districts, which will participate in this study. This study will take 18 months,” he narrated.
He warned that more families with tobacco users at greater risk of plunging themselves in dire poverty due to the cost attached to treating illnesses and caring for loved ones who contracted diseases from tobacco use.
Mboma recommended that the government and its stakeholders should intensify tobacco harm reduction.
“Let’s encourage people to be using the tobacco inductance like they should be using the E cigarettes, the smokeless tobacco like the snows. And also, let’s also encourage people to stop to smoke. Of course, those that cannot stop to smoke, let’s encourage them to be using the bulk power induction products that now at least, are available on the market. Not extensive, but we see in town, some shops have them now. So let’s encourage people to be using those products,” he emphasized.
In his remarks, Focal Person for Substance Prevention and Treatment at the Ministry of Health, Chitsanzo Mafuta, disclosed that the country has registered a significant increase in use of harmful products such as hand-rolled tobacco, cannabis and other drugs.
Mafuta stated that this increase is particularly high among the youth.
“And it’s not just one thing that push people to use these substances. Sometimes people do start out of curiosity. Just taste the substances. Others, it will be experimental, as you said, testing. The others will be just recreation. I just wanted to feel happy for today, but then it becomes a habit. The others, it could be occasional. But some people use the substances just because they want to relieve the stress,” he said.
Mafuta called upon authorities to reduce the demand and supply for tobacco and other substances if the country is to deal with the problem.