LES GRANDES EXPOSITIONS SUR LE MOURIDISME

January 30^th 2010

14:00 hrs

Conference: Anti-Smoking: Following Touba’s Example

The seminar was organized to discuss the harmful effects of tobacco and of smoking and to highlight the social ills associated with it. The main speaker of the event, Professor Abdul Aziz Kasse from the Instititute of Cancer at the University Cheikh Anta Diop, was joined by a panel which included; Serigne Abdou Jagne, Serigne Omar Ndao from the Ministry of Health, Mr. Momodou Diop, Journalist, Mr. Layba Diouf and Serigne Sheikh Abdou Mbacke. Mr. Modou Lo and various organizations were also represented in the seminar.

In his opening remark, Serigne Moustapha said that the Campaign for a tobacco free society was first initiated by Serigne Abdul Lahad Mbacke in 1980, when he embarked on a programme to cleanse the many ills which affected society at the time and Serigne Abdul Lahad prohibited many things which included smoking. Serigne Moustapha went on to say that everything which is prohibited in Islam is prohibited for a very good reason. Research is being undertaken at the university Cheikh Anta Diop in Dakar on the harmful effects of smoking. We must therefore pay great attention to the prohibitions of Serigne Abdul Lahad Mbacke, he said.

Following Serigne Moustapha’s introduction, Serigne Baboucarr Mboup spoke of how Serigne Abdul Lahad initiated the Anti-Smoking Campaign long before any country in the Western world had even talked about Anti-Smoking laws. He urged that there must be a world-wide movement against smoking. He pointed out that in the western world, there is an attempt to ban smoking only from some areas for example in restaurants, but to be effective there must be a total ban on smoking, he concluded.

Mr. Abdou Jagne, an Economist, spoke of the Economic cost of smoking. Extensive smoking leads to illness which makes the individual concern unable to work and therefore not able to support their family - there is the loss of income and the added cost of medication. There is also, he said, an increase in expenditure on Health for the country. Mr. Jagne went on to say that research has shown that people who smoke cigarettes usually go on to experiment with other harmful drugs. He concluded that 1 in 10 Senegalese people live in or has connections to Touba, therefore Touba can set the example. Already, a smoking ban in Touba is a lesson for the world.

Speaking on behalf of the Ministry of Health, Serigne Omar Ndao said that smoking is so harmful that it kills around 5 million people around the world every year. This figure is set to rise to around 10 million in future years with over 7million of that figure from the developing world. The situation is a serious one he said, as we can see a thriving tobacco industry with three tobacco companies represented in Senegal. Already there have been changes to the law but this must be further tightened. An effective tax system will also help with the anti-smoking campaign.

The main speaker of the seminar, Professor Abdul Aziz Kasse argued that smoking and the sale of tobacco, was pushed only by financial gain and that smoking kills more people than AIDS, alcohol, heroin, cocain, murders, suicides fires and accidents put together. He further argued that smoking is a form of genocide as the number of its victims exceeds that of places like Rwanda where about 800,000 people died. 100 million smokers have died during the 20^th Century and if nothing changes there will be over 1 billion smokers in the 21^st Century. World-wide, there are over 1.3 billion smokers and this number is set to rise as more tobacco markets emerge as seen with China Tobacco. Tobacco companies set to gain $121 billion dollars in developing countries, they therefore spend over $3.9 billion on advertisements and the glamorization of smoking. Professor Kasse highlighted the harmful effects of tobacco which include Gynaecological problems in the form of infertility, premature births, lung cancer, and other cancers, neurological and psychological problems. A successful ban on smoking will lead to reduced mortality rates, reduce government expenditure and also reduce infertility. He concluded that if all the Mourids took an anti-smoking stance then we may set an example to other people and to other countries.

All the panellists agreed in conclusion that Touba was setting an excellent example and that Mourids setting an Islamic example can lead the way for others to follow.