In his foreword, Dr. Akinkugbe talks of a "magnus opus, a monumental work", while for Evan Blecher, it "sets new standards for tobacco control research on the continent".
Written by IDRC's grantees, published (paid for) by IDRC, this is an hymn to IDRC: self-inflated, self-congratulatory, self-serving, it conveniently ignores the many problems and failures linked to the ATSA program. Considering the amounts invested, the final result is incredibly small and of very limited use. A very inconvenient and unacceptable assessment for all those who were/are part of the IDRC system. The book is a PR smokescreen for a very defective and wasteful project.
Interestingly the presentation on the Anthem's site (copy below at the end of this post) only mentions IDRC as ATSA's sponsor, neglecting to indicate the main funder (90%+) was the Gates Foundation, that decided to terminate the grant upon learning that IDRC Chair, Barbara McDougall, was a former Imperial Tobacco Board member.
The presentation on Amazon does mention (in very brief terms) the Gates Foundation: "This volume utilizes the work initiated and executed under a recent major public health initiative, the African Tobacco Situational Analyses (ATSA), which was sponsored by the Canadian government's International Development Research Centre (IDRC) with funds from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation."
One wonders how this publication was financed, what the budget/cost is, for what distribution? How many potential and real buyers at $99, especially in developing countries? But maybe a "free" distribution is planned.
A French version is to be published by the Presses de l'Université de Laval and IDRC under the title: La lutte contre le tabagisme en Afrique.
About This Book (from the presentation on the Anthem's site)
‘Tobacco use in Sub-Saharan Africa is growing rapidly as a result of strong economic growth and the aggressive marketing tactics of tobacco multinationals. Although the policy interventions are well understood, the political economy of tobacco control in Sub-Saharan Africa is not, and this volume is a timely addition to the literature, offering the most comprehensive review of the political economy of tobacco control in Sub-Saharan Africa yet. The attention to detail in the 12 country case studies – representing diverse linguistic, geographic, political, legal and developmental environments – sets new standards for tobacco control research on the continent.’ —Dr Evan Blecher, International Tobacco Control Research Program, American Cancer Society
This volume presents the work initiated and executed under the African Tobacco Situational Analyses (ATSA), a recent major public health initiative sponsored by the Canadian government’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC). Conceived to illuminate the factors that will facilitate the reform of Africa’s major public health policies, this program focused particularly (but not exclusively) on policies concerning tobacco. The results, presented in this book, are an important contribution to the literature on global public health and international development, and comprise the most comprehensive evidence-based analysis of tobacco policy in the African region.
The country-level analyses of this study examine topics such as smoking prevalence, the status of relevant smoking-related policies, and the politics of public health policy reform – as well as the role played by the tobacco industry in each of these key areas. Sitting above these case studies is an overarching conceptual framework, operating with the expressed goal of creating generalizable lessons for the continent as a whole. Thus, ultimately this book permits the reader not only to grasp the depth and complexity of the tobacco situation in each country, but also to draw meaningful conclusions regarding what sort of public health policy reforms have been broadly successful across Africa – and how these successes might be replicated in the future.
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