Tobacco Use and Its Socio-Cultural Dimension among Male Adults in Northern Ghana

A recent development on the use of tobacco shows that its usage is on the ascendancy in developing nations with its associated socio-economic and health implication. Using both qualitative and quantitative methods, a purposive sampling technique, a total of 384 respondents were selected to elicit their views on factors that influence tobacco use and how it impacts the health and social wellbeing of men in northern Ghana. The data was analyzed using statistical package for social sciences for the quantitative data and content analysis for the qualitative data. The findings showed that most of the respondents were still actively smoking. More so, a number of respondents were introduced into the act of smoking by friends. The average number of sticks smoked was 18 per week. It also emerged that while some smoke to reduce shyness, others smoke to reduce stress. It was also revealed that though many are aware of the health hazards associated with smoking, they seem not to know the health hazards associated with passive smoking. The paper thus recommends that proper education should be given to children as well as adults who are currently smoking about the potential health risk associated with smoking.