Namibia must stop smoking away its future…Namibia is sleepwalking into a public-health crisis.

While the country debates unemployment, housing, education and economic growth, a quieter and potentially devastating crisis is taking root in schools, homes and communities across the country. Children are smoking Hubbly Bubbly. They are vaping. Some are mixing these substances with alcohol and cannabis. Some are skipping classes to smoke. Some are becoming distributors to finance their habits.

Children as young as 10 have reportedly been found smoking Hubbly Bubbly. This should be a national emergency. Instead, the country has largely treated it as a social nuisance. That must change.

The National Council is therefore right to investigate the impact of Hubbly Bubbly on Namibian youth. The consultations currently being conducted across several regions represent an important opportunity to confront a problem that has been allowed to grow in the shadows.