By Kaya Selby /RNZ Pacific journalist
Nauru has banned the sale and import of tobacco products for one day of the year.
As per a new law passed by Nauru’s parliament earlier last month, 31 May has been declared “Our Day to Let Go of Tobacco”, and sellers will face an AU$2000 fine or a 12-month prison stay for violating the law.
A body corporate could face up to $50,000 in fines.
The ban will apply on that day annually, covering all tobacco products, including “cigars, e-cigarettes and adulterated smokeless tobacco products such as chewing tobacco.
“This is an initiative to address the increase in non-communicable diseases, whereby tobacco use remains the primary cause of preventive illness and death in Nauru,” the Naur government said in a statement.
The world’s smallest island nation has an estimated 35.3 percent of adult tobacco users or around 3000 people – according to the latest World Health Organisation (WHO) data. This figure was 67.5 percent in 2000 and is projected to fall to 30.2 percent in 2030.
Nauru used to have the the highest smoking prevalence in the Pacific but were surpassed by Papua New Guinea in around 2015. By 2030 the Solomon Islands is projected to take the lead.
The WHO spearheads an annual World No Tobacco Day campaign which several Pacific island countries take part in.
