The Gambia burns over fourteen billion dalasis a year just on cigarettes. Omar Conteh, who leads a tobacco monitoring team, dropped the number, explaining the country is purely a consumption market for imported products. He said national smoking rates hit sixteen point seven percent, with nearly a third of men between twenty-five and forty-four lighting up. Shisha use among kids aged twelve to twenty is over eight percent, and secondhand smoke exposure is rampant, affecting two-thirds of adults and over sixty percent of teenagers.
Conteh estimates that around four hundred thousand smokers go through nearly four million cigarettes daily, creating that massive annual cost. He warned that despite global health commitments, the tobacco industry keeps meddling in policy with lobbying and misleading PR. He called the conflict between industry interests and public health irreconcilable, linking tobacco to disease, poverty, and death. He also cautioned that new products like vapes and e-cigarettes are just a trap, designed to sustain nicotine addiction and hook young users.
Conteh estimates that around four hundred thousand smokers go through nearly four million cigarettes daily, creating that massive annual cost. He warned that despite global health commitments, the tobacco industry keeps meddling in policy with lobbying and misleading PR. He called the conflict between industry interests and public health irreconcilable, linking tobacco to disease, poverty, and death. He also cautioned that new products like vapes and e-cigarettes are just a trap, designed to sustain nicotine addiction and hook young users.
