Tobacco Control in Africa - TCA

Obama warns Uganda about anti-gay legislation

President Obama has warned Uganda about anti-gay legislation. Will such a law have an impact on the support provided by US based NGOs for tobacco control activities in Uganda and other African countries? It could if they take seriously the defense of human rights. 

Jeff Raikes about Philanthropy, Technology, Transparency and Teamwork.

Here is the whole text of the conference given by Jeff Raikes on June 5, 2012. Read it all and especially the parts at the end devoted to Transparency and Teamwork. I have reproduced the text below for 'safekeeping' because my experience has been that sometimes links were broken, texts were deleted and the original material was lost. Yes this also happened on the website of the Gates Foundation and for information about the tobacco control grants. 

 

IDRC and Taxation of Tobacco Products in West Africa

Revisiting the grants awarded by IDRC it is interesting to look at how Dakar based CRES has been significantly funded to research the taxation of tobacco products in West Africa. Of course many meetings were organized including one in Paris and a 3 day conference in Ougadougou. But is any specific information available on line? I have not found any -yet-.

Will South Africa adopt plain packaging?

Would such a move result in an international legal dispute?

Gambia: Tobacco Control in Gambia

This opinion in The Point.

Tanzania: Dar Es Salaam eyes Chinese tobacco market

From the Daily News.

Malawi, Tanzania: Japan Tobacco International celebrates its reforestation program

From the JTI website.

Malawi: From tobacco growing to fish farming

This inspiring story from the Nyasa Times.

Nigeria: BAT's initiatives in "Corporate Social Responsibility"

Here, giving awards to promote agriculture.

Nigeria: Growing use of shisha/hookah

There is a growing use of shisha/hookah in Nigeria, including by celebrities apparently unaware of the health risks.

South Africa: Smokers have their own royal tent during ANC national conference

From News 24 this description of a tent for smokers sponsored by BATSA.

Tobacco companies see Africa as a fertile ground

An article just published in the Los Angeles Times. Robyn Dixon interviews a few tobacco control advocates from South Africa and describes how trendy smoking is for young males and how easy and cheap it is to buy one stick.

South Africa: Tobacco smoke pollution in the non-smoking section fo restaurants in Pretoria

This is a letter published in Tobacco Control Journal but unfortunately you have to subscribe to read the whole content. Still worth mentioning.

Electronic chips to track tobacco products in Kenya

Doug Bettcher mentions this use of electronic chips to track tobacco products and combat illicit trade in a interview with the Russian newspaper Gazeta.

Deborah Hutton Campaign in the UK: make a film!

The Deborah Hutton Campaign invites youth to produce their own anti-tobacco short film.

Ethiopia: National Tobacco Company wants to modernize

An interesting article from Addis-Fortune about the National Tobacco Company that wants to modernize its equipment and a description of the present tobacco market in Ethiopia.

BAT Nigeria Foundation's activities in Edo State.

BAT Nigeria's foundation has given a building to a local community.

Shadow Reports about the implementation of the FCTC in Africa

We recently mentioned the "shadow report" recently published about Tanzania but there are 7 other African shadow reports published by FCA. Here are the links (pdf)

• Benin
• Botswana
• Burundi
• Niger
• Nigeria
• Togo

From Finland, The Tobacco Body

An online presentation of the impact of tobacco on the human (female and male) body.

Mobile Health (mHealth) for tobacco control

This is a new WHO initiative aiming at using smart phones to promote tobacco control. The projects mentioned center mostly -for now- around cessation but they also involve smoke-free places and combatting illicit trade. There could be apps for each tobacco control issue. African developers wanted and think about what to communicate about.

Zimbabwe: News about the tobacco growing situation

From The Herald, an official point of view that points to some problems.

ITGA and COMESA about tobacco production ban and sustainable alternative crops

The International Tobacco  Growers’ Association (ITGA) has welcomed the Common Market for Eastern  and Southern Africa (Comesa) decision to oppose the total ban of tobacco  production without offering sustainable alternative crops. From Zimdiaspora

Tanzania’s smoking rates rise despite FCTC ratification

Smoking rates are rising in Tanzania, especially among youth, despite the country having ratified the World Health Organisation (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in 2007.

The main reason for the rise is the tobacco industry’s increasing promotion of tobacco products in the country, a new shadow report has found.

From the FCA site.

Cameroon: A presentation of a draft for a new tobacco control law for parliamentarians

From the Cameroun Tribune.

The Cameroonian Coalition Against Tobacco held a forum on Thursday in Yaounde.

Liberia: Enforce Regulation Against Public Smoking

This Editorial in The News (from Monrovia) underlines the need for enforcement.

Regional Conference in Ouagadougou, November 26,27, 28 2012 about tobacco taxation

press release

The Consortium for Social and Economic Research (CRES), in partnership with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and International Development Research Centre for International Development ( IDRC), organizes a regional conference to share country profiles made in the 15 countries in ECOWAS and regional synthesis on tobacco products taxation products. This high-level meeting will be held on Monday 26, Tuesday 27 and Wednesday 28 November 2012 at   hotel Azalaï-Independence at Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

Workshop about tax policies in West Africa in Ouagadougou (November 26-28)

Find below the press release posted on tobacco.org from AllAfrica.

Interesting article about BAT's practices in South Africa and Nigeria

Browsing away I visited the excellent tobacco.org site and while searching for news about Africa I found this very interesting article by Ogala Emmanuel published on Premium Times. One part of the story is about the way BAT switches from traditional advertising (on billboards etc) to more subtle promotional practices, like offering cigarettes in many public places, "just so adult customers can test our brands". A classic move that is used globally and is more difficult to combat than illegal traditional ads and is probably more dangerous.

The budget awarded by the Gates Foundation to ACS-Consortium increases again

When we last looked at the budget (in December 2011) it was $7.8788.847. As of today it is $8.015.471, an increase of $130.624.

Still no detailed information about how this grant is used.

Job opening: Tobacco Control Advisor at CTCA (Makerere University in Kampala)

Read the ad and apply before November 30.

Evaluation of the tobacco control programs in Africa?

A meeting has taken place in Atlanta at the end of October to look into evaluating tobacco control programs in Africa? Quis custodiet ipsos custodies? Any guarantee of an independent process? ie not having the funders and the people receiving the money self-evaluating themselves? Any hint of the creation of objective benchmarks and a simple scorecard like the one adopted for the EU in 2007?

What pictures for tobacco control in Africa?

This NYT post  about photojournalism and NGOs reminds me how little (if any) good pictures have been produced about tobacco control in Africa. Why? The same reason so little (if any) good articles have been written. No budget was/is set aside to incite/compensate journalists reporting about tobacco control issues. Why? Ask the organizations and people who have been/are managing the millions of dollars allocated for tobacco control in Africa since 2007. 

Gates Foundation and New Venture Fund: from $1,329,671 to $4,163,671

After visiting the Bloomberg Initiative's site I decided to visit as well the Gates Foundation's site in case there was anything new. Indeed there was. I had mentioned earlier a grant awarded by GF to the New Venture Fund that mentioned tobacco control in Africa. When revisiting the page devoted to this grant it appears that the amount has significantly increased: it's now $4,163,671 instead of $1,329,671.
All the rest remains identical and I could not find any additional information about what's it's all about. Just millions floating around. Philanthrocapitalism at work. Any reason to complain or be surprised?

Uganda: a new $120K grant from CTFK-Bloomberg Initiative

Visiting the Bloomberg Initiative site I find that the Ugandan Ministry of Health was awarded $120K in September to develop a "national tobacco control strategic plan". See below for a few more details. As of today, according to the information available, $272.724 have been awarded in 2012 by the Initiative to 4 African projects. That's a big drop compared to the previous years. Most of the recipients are organizations that had already been funded: what about all the other groups and countries? Any support for Guinea where advocates just succeed in advancing a new Tobacco Control Act (in French) or Senegal where they keep pushing and communicating (also in French).

Seychelles approves graphic health warnings (50% of the surface)

The Seychelles government has approved new graphic health warnings on tobacco packages, which must cover at least 50 per cent of the package’s front and back.
The regulation was formally published in the Official Gazette on 1 October 2012. After having ratified the FCTC first in the African region in 2003, the government of the island country implemented comprehensive tobacco legislation in 2009.
A total ban on tobacco advertising, promotion sponsorship and a total ban of smoking in all enclosed work and public places are already well enforced.
The new warnings will be mandatory from April 2013.
More information
Download the regulations

The digital revolution in Africa

From this post in the Guardian. What should be the "consequences" for tobacco control? Signaled by Amie Newman in Impatient Optimists.

A mysterious project funded by IDRC: Expanding Fiscal Policies

Discovered on their site but it does not give much details about what it is precisely about, what the budget is, who the African partners are, etc.

Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids is looking for an Executive Assistant, Africa Programs

Just posted on Idealist.org

New Venture Fund for Global Policy and Advocacy: What Projects in Africa within this $1,329,671 grant?

Find below the description of the goals of the New Venture Fund for Global Policy and Advocacy (NVF for GPA) that was awarded a $1,329,671 grant by the Gates Foundation. I now cannot find it any longer on their site. 

USA: Deceptive Telemarketing Linked to Big Charities

From Bloomberg News.

Grant makers and media

This article is about the situation in the US but what about the situation in Africa and more precisely what is the grant makers strategy to raise the visibility and awareness about tobacco control issues in African countries/media? Do they even have one? Shouldn't they have one considering the millions involved? Subsidiary question: who is aware of the most recent grant awarded by the Gates Foundation for innovative programs in Africa? Do you know where to look?

Powerful CDC TV ads: Tips from former smokers

See the ads on YouTube and on the CDC site.

Workshops in South Africa

ACS (with Gates Foundation funding) organized two workshops. One for Botswana advocates and one for "emerging researchers". I am not sure about how cost effective they are. Another post on the ACS blog looks at cancer care in Togo: we have nothing.

Bloomberg's Initiative strategy in Africa in 2012?

While staff changes at CTFK occured in 2012, the level of the grants awarded (as of today) has been fairly low: $152.724 for projects in 3 countries: Ghana to promote pictorial warnings, Cameroon and Togo to support the enactment of strict regulations. Compared to the previous levels of funding this is very small. The same probably goes for the American Cancer Society that manages the millions provided by the Gates Foundation but does not provide any detailed budget.

Meeting in Paris about tobacco taxation in Africa

Meeting in Paris July 31, 2012 Was it really necessary and what was really achieved? How much did it cost? REALLY?

Jeudi, 09 Août 2012 10:06

Rencontre sur la Collecte de données dans la taxation du tabac en Afrique – Paris, 31 juillet 2012 Le mardi 31 juillet 2012 à Paris, le CRES, représenté par le Pr Abdoulaye Diagne et Mme Nafissatou Baldé Sow, a pris part à la Rencontre sur la Collecte de données dans la taxation du tabac en Afrique. Elle a été organisée par The Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases représentée Mme Sylvianne Ratte, Conseillère technique Lutte Anti-Tabac. Le séminaire a réuni plusieurs acteurs de la taxation du tabac : l’African Tobacco Control Consortium, le Centre de recherche pour le développement international, l’American Cancer Society, l’Organisation Mondiale de la Santé, le Center for Disease Control and Prevention, la fondation Bloomberg, la Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, l’Université de Montreal et l’Université de Cap Town. Les intervenants ont pu exposer les projets en cours ainsi que les données collectées dans le domaine de la taxation du tabac. Ils ont également partagé leurs expériences sur la collecte de données, notamment en précisant les données manquantes dans les pays que leurs projets ont couverts. Des suggestions ont été faites pour une meilleure exploitation des sources de données existantes, l’amélioration de la collecte des données et des précisions apportées le type de données nécessaires pour la formulation d’une politique de taxation plus efficace. Enfin, les structures présentes ont échangé sur les perspectives de projets futurs pour la collecte des données sur les taxes et les prix du tabac, et ont notamment évoqué la collaboration avec les Instituts Nationaux de la Statistiques dans les pays d’Afrique, les possibilités de formation des décideurs et les opportunités de partenariat au niveau régional et international.

Supporting African Journalists Who Report About Tobacco Control?

This article explains how US foundations fund journalists. The Gates Foundation is one of them. In 2008 a reflexion was started about how to support journalists willing to report about tobacco control issues in their country. The most effective way would be to directly compensate journalists for the documents they produce. Such contracts could be designed so that the various aspects of the MPOWER strategy are covered. How about giving it a try? The rate? $100 per story (would have to include at least one picture) and a $100 monthly bonus for the best segment. The rythm? one story per month with a precise deadline. Please let us stop the expensive capacity building workshops and let us directly pay the journalists to produce content for everybody to see.

mHealth and tobacco control? Maximizing Mobile

How could mobile phones (including text messaging) be part of the tobacco control strategy in Africa? Any projects? See also the most recent report of the World Bank about Maximizing Mobile.

CTFK is looking for an innovative and strategic Associate Director of International Social Media

Just after posting my somehow pessimistic post about social media I find this announcement (pdf) on the CTFK site about the search for an "Innovative and strategic Associate Director of International Social Media", with a special focus on Africa and China. The perfect job for me (at least regarding Africa).
Feel free to recommend me by contacting [email protected]
Thank you in advance.
The new Associate Director will provide strategic leadership to the development and implementation of an international 30-month social media project in support of tobacco control policy advocacy. This new and innovative initiative seeks to enhance and expand the Campaign’s communications capacity and the advocacy efforts of organizations in China and Africa through the strategic use of social media tools and targeted grantmaking in priority countries.
I don't think it's a good idea to try to find one person to work on both Africa and China. They are far too different and it would be better to have one person for each. Speaking (and writing) French should not be a plus it should be a must (like chinese for a chinese position). Unsolicited advice.

Tobacco control advocates and social media

I have lamented for years that tobacco control advocates don't use social media enough. A comment I just read in the most recent issue of Tobacco Control confirms my assessment and my experience: most of the time, the longer the advocates have been involved in the field, the less inclined they are to use social media. Of course there are exceptions (like Simon Chapman with the Facebook based Global Tobacco Control Network ) but where is the rest? :(

Where are the African leaders/groups on line? on a regular basis? Other exception, LISTAB, the Senegalese blog. You can congratulate Massamba. Yes I helped them launch the blog but they are the ones keeping it alive.

Ghana new tobacco control law bans smoking in public places

The new regulations also include big health warnings on the packs. Let us look for the implementation and pictures of the new packs.