Tobacco Control

Tobacco Control

    Overview

    Tobacco is the leading preventable cause of death in the world. Tobacco control actions will prevent young people from starting to use tobacco, help current tobacco users to quit and protect non-smokers from exposure to second-hand smoke. 

    In the African Region, 44 countries have ratified or acceded to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Strengthening the implementation of the convention is one of the big challenges for countries in the African Region.

    Countries in the African Region are experiencing an increasing rate of tobacco use. The fast growth of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa and an increase in consumer purchsing power is leading to larger and more accessible markets in Africa. In addition to that there are the intensive efforts by the tobacco industry to expand African markets.

    Prevention is therefore the most cost-effective measure. Comprehensive monitoring informs the governments and civil society on how the tobacco epidemic harms their countries, and helps them to allocate tobacco control resources where they are most needed and will be most effective.

    Policies and strategies

    Tobacco control actions aim to substantially reduce the prevalence of tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke. The Who Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) lays out different tobacco control measures to be implemented in order to prevent young people from starting to use tobacco, help current tobacco users to quit and protect non-smokers from exposure to second-hand smoking.

    Setting implementation goals and developing plans and strategies for the implementation of the Convention in the African Region are imperative. In addition, building the capacity of the Member States in the region for an effective enforcement of the different strategies is crucial.

    The following tobacco control strategies are in line with the requirements and guidance in the WHO FCTC:

    • Raising awareness about the WHO FCTC ratification/accession process and requirements;
    • Building capacity for the development of national action plan and comprehensive tobacco control policy and legislation reflecting the different provisions of the WHO FCTC such as protection from tobacco smoke, support for cessation programmes, warning about the dangers of tobacco, bans on tobacco advertising and promotion and raising taxes on tobacco products;
    • Establishing a full-time national coordinating mechanism with a designed national focal point and a national multisectoral steering committee;
    • Establishing a system for surveillance, monitoring and evaluation of tobacco use, tobacco control policies interventions as well as tobacco industry activities;
    • Mobilizing resources for national tobacco control programmes with the participation of nongovernmental organizations and the private sector.

    Country profiles

    Country profiles: WHO Report on the global tobacco epidemic 2019

    The country profiles were generated from data collected for the WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic, 2019. The country profiles provide information about tobacco prevalence, preventive measures, cessation and tobacco economics.


    Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS)


    Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS)


    WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic, 2019


    WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic, 2009


    Report card on the WHO FCTC, 2010


    The Global Tobacco Surveillance System (GTSS) African Region Atlas, 2018

    The Global Tobacco Surveillance System (GTSS) African Region Atlas presents estimates of tobacco use and key tobacco control measures in a visual format from countries within the WHO African Region who have completed the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS), the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS), or both.

    The Atlas describes the range of tobacco product use across various countries in the WHO African Region and provides estimates on tobacco use; second-hand smoke exposure; cessation; warnings about the dangers of tobacco; bans on advertising, promotion and sponsorship; and tobacco taxes. Progress and opportunities for further tobacco prevention and control efforts in these countries are also highlighted. This Atlas makes data visualization both simpler and friendlier, as well as ultimately actionable.

    This Atlas can serve as a resource for decision makers, public health professionals, the media, researchers, and the general public to inform tobacco prevention and control efforts to end the tobacco epidemic.

    Download the GTSS African Region Atlas
    English | French

    Distinctions de la journée mondiale sans tabac

    LAURÉATS DES DISTINCTIONS DE LA JOURNÉE MONDIALE SANS TABAC 2019 DANS LA RÉGION AFRICAINE

    Chaque année, l'OMS récompense des individus ou des organisations de ses six régions qui se sont distingués dans des domaines de la lutte antitabac. Dans la Région africaine, les lauréats des distinctions de la Journée mondiale sans tabac 2019 sont les suivants :

    • Son Excellence le Professeur Kane Boubacar, Ministre de la santé de la République islamique de Mauritanie, pour le prix du Directeur Général;
    • Dr Edumbadumba Egdula Pierre César, Assemblée nationale, République démocratique du Congo;
    • Conseil des représentants des peuples de la République fédérale démocratique d’Éthiopie ;
    • Ministère de la santé et de la qualité de la vie, République de Maurice;
    • Dr Ana da Conceição dos Passos Mamede Graça, Institut national de lutte contre les drogues, République d'Angola; et
    • M. Peter Unekwu-Ojo Friday, Directeur exécutif, Cedar Refuge Foundation, République fédérale du Nigéria.

    Les six lauréats vont être reconnus pour leur contribution importante à la lutte antitabac dans leurs pays respectifs.

    Factsheet

    Key Facts

    • Tobacco kills up to half of its users.
    • Tobacco kills more than 8 million people each year. More than 7 million of those deaths are the result of direct tobacco use while around 1.2 million are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke.

    • Nearly 80% of the world's more than 1 billion smokers live in low- and middle-income countries.

     In the African region:

    • 13 million women use tobacco products, including chewing tobacco and snuff
    • 13% of young adolescent girls use tobacco products.  Recent trends show an increase in tobacco use among girls. In the past, the prevalence of tobacco use among girls was lower than the rate for boys. But recent studies have shown the prevalence rate among girls (4.6% to 36.6%) has become as high as for boys (7.8% to 36.5%).  
    • About 22,000 women die every year from tobacco-related diseases which are  preventable.
    • Between 2002 and 2030, tobacco-attributable deaths are projected to double in low and middle income countries (LMICs), including in Africa.
    • Of adult deaths due to second-hand smoke, about 2/3 are among women (64%) – women working and living with men who smoke.

    In addition, women have unique and higher risks of cancer and artery disease. Tobacco causes similar health problems and threats for men and women. But women have unique and higher risks of cervical cancer, breast cancer, coronary artery disease.

    The Tobacco Control Programme contributes to the reduction of the burden of disease and death caused by tobacco through reducing the prevalence of tobacco use and the exposure to tobacco smoke in all segments of the population in the African Region.

    WHO policies and strategies

    _Tobacco control actions aim to substantially and continually reduce the prevalence of tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke.The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) lays out different tobacco control measures to be implemented in order to prevent young people from starting to use tobacco, help current tobacco users to quit and protect non-smokers from exposure to second-hand smoke.

    Setting implementation goals and developing plans and strategies for the implementation of the Convention in the African Region are imperative. In addition, building the capacity of the Member States in the region for an effective enforcement of the different strategies is crucial.

    The following tobacco control strategies are in line with the requirements and guidance in the WHO FCTC:

    Raising awareness about the WHO FCTC ratification/accession process and requirements;
    Building capacity for the development of national action plan and comprehensive tobacco control policy and legislation reflecting the different provisions of the WHO FCTC such as protection from tobacco smoke, support for cessation programmes, warning about the dangers of tobacco, bans on tobacco advertising and promotion and raising taxes on tobacco products;
    Establishing a full-time national coordinating mechanism with a designed national focal point and a national multisectoral steering committee;
    Establishing a system for surveillance, monitoring and evaluation of tobacco use, tobacco control policies interventions as well as tobacco industry activities;
    Mobilizing resources for national tobacco control programmes with the participation of nongovernmental organizations and the private sector.

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