How do African governments should act against the tobacco epidemic? A study by the FAO 2021 report on a tobacco control action plan in sub-Saharan Africa
It’s easy to see that the anti-smoking legislation wasn’t always a priority for African countries. Currently, the continent has the lowest rates of smoking in the world: in 2020, only about 10.3% of the population smoked according to the World Health Organization (WHO)1. The global smoking prevalence is 22.3%. But in the past decade, researchers and activists have begun raising red flags. A rise in smoking could be caused by Africa’s improving economy and young population. The confluence of trends has not gone unnoticed by the tobacco industry, which focuses intense attention on the region and on governments that have been slow to introduce anti-smoking regulations. Goma believes that all of this could add up to an epidemic in the future.
A 2021 report5 by the African Tobacco Control Alliance ranked 14 countries in sub-Saharan Africa according to how much influence the industry wielded over them, how transparent governments made their dealings with tobacco companies and what measures were in place to rebuff their advances. Zambia was found to have the highest level of interference, followed by Tanzania, South Africa and Mozambique.
Some of these factors could be addressed by implementing recommendations from the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). The FCTC was adopted by the World Health Assembly to help fight tobacco use. The main components include monitoring tobacco use, banning tobacco use in public spaces, providing cessation services to people who want to quit, placing graphic warning labels on tobacco products, banning tobacco companies from advertising and sponsorships and raising taxes on tobacco products.
The battle for illegal cigarettes in the developing world: How governments, governments and the public will confront the problem of how much tobacco is allowed and how much money is needed
Gilmore says he thinks of it as a power issue. In countries with small gross domestic products (GDPs), she says, wealthy industries can interfere and influence in ways that they might not be able to in richer nations. “These companies are more outrageous in what they will do in low- and middle-income countries,” she says.
Their pet arguments are about revenue, according to Jeff Drope, a health-policy researcher at University of Illinois Chicago’s School of Public Health. He thinks that concerns about revenue falling if taxes go up aren’t correct. He says that tax revenue goes up because people pay more taxes. In the mid-1990s the South African government decided to increase cigarette taxes to 50% of the retail price. Smoking prevalence fell by 32% and the tax increased by 25% by 2004. At the same time, government revenue increased 140%9.
Drope believes that jobs will be created in other sectors if there is a job loss. He says that when people decrease spending on tobacco, they tend to spend more on health care and education. Sometimes there is a net gain in employment.
Legislating is only one part of the battle. Despite its intentions, Senegal has struggled to implement its plans for smoke-free spaces and warning labels. It is not alone in this: in many African countries, even when laws are put in place, local authorities lack the will, personnel and money to enforce them. Governments are struggling with budgets and looking at immediate concerns like poverty and hunger so enforcement agents have limited resources to function.
Smoking kills. Maybe that’s not the most original thought you’ve read today, but it’s worth repeating. In 2019, around 14% of all deaths were caused by tobacco smoking — and were therefore entirely preventable. What a colossal waste.
Smoking is the cause of more than one in ten deaths. Most smoking-related deaths stem from one of just four non-communicable diseases (NCDs): ischaemic heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, stroke and cancer of the trachea, bronchi and lungs. Smoking is a factor in six deaths from non-communicable diseases. 200 million years of healthy life were lost because of smoking in 2019.
The vast majority of people who will die will be those who continue to smoke; quitting at any age reduces the risk of a smoking-related death considerably6. It is possible to stop smoking by the age of 40.
Policies that promote smoking cessation are common in countries with high economic and social development, and have led to roughly equal numbers of current and former smokers. Cessation efforts are not as effective in nations with a decrease in development because the increase in smoking may have occurred more recently.
Haleon Contributions to Stability and Control of Nicotine in Cigars”, Part I: An Approach to Stimulate Brain Regions
The financial support of Haleon was acknowledged by us. As always, Nature retains sole responsibility for all editorial content.
The health effects of smoking tobacco are well-known, but nicotine’s possible role in perpetrating them is not clear. The rising popularity of alternative nicotine delivery methods, such as e-cigarettes or vapes, is giving researchers more impetus — and more opportunity — to find out.
Nicotine in cigarettes is addictive and can make quitting smoking hard for many people. A new approach to help people kick the habit involves stimulating brain regions that are involved in addiction. The technique has already been approved for use in the United States, and it could improve considerably as researchers get a better handle on what goes on in a nicotine-addicted brain.