Smoking in Lesotho
In Lesotho, the prevalence of tobacco smoking among adults has shown significant variations over recent years. As of 2022, the adult smoking prevalence was estimated to be 19.3%, with a marked gender disparity: 39.2% for males and 0.4% for females. This represents a slight increase from 2020, when the overall prevalence was 19.1%, 38.6% for males, and 0.4% for females. The number of smokers aged 15 and older was approximately 277,466 in 2022, whereas in 2020 it was 269,025. For reference, the adult daily smoking prevalence in 2017 was 20.6%, with 41.6% among males and 30% among females. Smoking-related mortality also poses a significant public health challenge, with 2,168 deaths recoreded in 2021, corresponding to 5.73% of all deaths. This includes 1,675 male deaths and 493 female deaths, reflecting gender-specific mortality rates of 8.35% for males and 2.77% for females. These statistics underscore the persistent challenge of tobacco smoking in Lesotho, highlighting the need for targeted public health interventions to reduce its health impacts.
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February 28, 2020 by theguardian.com
Malawi legalises cannabis amid hopes of fresh economic growth
Malawi has passed a bill decriminalising cannabis for medicinal and industrial purposes, almost five years after a motion to legalise industrial hemp was adopted.
The country follows in the footsteps of Zimbabwe, Zambia and Lesotho, neighbouring south-east African states that have legalised medicinal cannabis, as well as South Africa, where medicinal and recreational use was decriminalised in 2018.
“Today is a very glorious day for me personally and, I think, for the entire nation,” said Boniface Kadzamira, the former MP who tabled the topic in 2015, following the successful passage of the bill on Thursday.