According to The New Times dated February 8, the district health officer Moses Munyamahoro announced a by law passed by the district advisory council banning public smoking.. The law prescribes a fine of Frw10,000 to errant individuals.

Some smokers are very disrespectful to none smokers and are not even bothered at how much they are inconveniencing sometimes. Some individuals however, ignorantly pass the poisonous smoke to even their own children In fact; this law has long been over due because Rwanda is one of the signatories to international convention against tobacco and its effects.

Inhaling other people’s tobacco smoke is called ‘passive smoking and is dangerous to people’s health. Scientific evidence shows that passive smoking causes death, disease, and disability. Most experts believe that moderate, occasional exposure to second-hand smoke poses a small but measurable cancer risk to nonsmokers.

Since smoking is useless and a danger to health. We should stand up against tobacco and its effects. I call upon all leaders to put up a strong campaign against tobacco not only in public places such as hospitals and bars but also in families.

NYARUTARAMA