Five stories in 2014 on the site of the World Lung Foundation: on December 2nd about a mass media campaign in Kenya, on October 16 about images provided for free for graphic pack warnings in Africa, on September 8 about a regional media campaign in Francophone countries (see the clip about a former smoker with mouth cancer, but only 308 views on YouTube), May 29 about progress made in Africa, March 18 about a regional workshop for six countries in Kampala about counter-marketing, February 19 about the first mass media campaign in Gambia, November 21 2013 about the Africa Tobacco Report published by the American Cancer Society.
Powerful Mass Media Campaign Warns Kenyans About the Dangers of Secondhand Smoke and Urges Enforcement of Smokefree laws Tuesday, December 2, 2014
TV and radio public service announcements and community posters encourage people to quit smoking and support smoke-free laws
(Nairobi, Kenya and New York, USA) – A national mass media campaign entitled “Tobacco Kills – Quit Now!” is being launched today across Kenya by Dr. Khadijah Kassachoon, the Principal Secretary for the Ministry of Health, to warn people about the harmful effects of smoking tobacco and particularly the harms of second-hand tobacco smoke to the unborn, babies and young children; and to encourage smokers to heed the country’s smoke-free laws and to quit smoking. The Ministry of Health (MoH), with technical and financial support from World Lung Foundation, is undertaking this important mass media campaign, which combines public service announcements (PSAs) on TV and radio and community posters in both Swahili and English.
“Tobacco Kills – Quit Now!” is designed to empower Kenyans with new information about tobacco’s harms to dissuade them from smoking and to strengthen efforts to protect people from second-hand tobacco smoke. There is no safe level of exposure to second-hand smoke and only 100% smoke-free environments are effective in protecting the public from tobacco’s harmful effects. The campaign shows how children exposed to cigarette smoke are more likely to suffer from severe respiratory infections, ear infections, asthma and sudden infant death. The campaign will air in all regions of the country from today, for one month.
“Tobacco Kills – Quit Now!” was pretested and rated most effective by Kenyans and other African audiences. This PSA has been successfully used in Cameroon and The Gambia, and in more than a dozen other countries, including China, Viet Nam, Australia, Lebanon and Poland, and has been found to motivate smokers to try to quit. The MOH, in collaboration with the support of the National Authority for the Campaign Against Drug Abuse (NACADA) has provided information on where to seek help to quit smoking tobacco. The campaign includes a toll-free help line – accessed by dialing 1192.
About Tobacco Use in Kenya and the Government Response
According to the recently launched Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) 2014, 1.7 million adults currently smoke tobacco while 14.3 percent (3.1 million adults) reported being exposed to second-hand smoke at home, 21.2 percent in restaurants, 17.6 percent in the workplace, 30.2 percent in universities and 86.1 percent in nightclubs and bars. Over three-quarters (77.4 percent) of current smokers planned to or were thinking about quitting, but only 5 in 10 smokers had attempted to quit in the past 12 months.
The most recent Global Youth Tobacco Survey (2013) revealed that 9.9 percent of Kenyan youth aged 13-15 years are tobacco users, with 7 percent using smoked tobacco products, and 24.8 percent of youth exposed to second-hand tobacco smoke at home. This campaign seeks to encourage quitting and support for the legislation on smoke-free public places so Kenyans will be protected from cigarette smoke, particularly in public places and at home where children are exposed to second-hand smoke alongside adults.
Tobacco is the most preventable cause of non-communicable diseases including cancers, heart diseases and lung diseases. These diseases are debilitating to sufferers and the cost of managing them is beyond the reach of the majority of Kenyans. The prevalence of these diseases will continue to rise if more people continue to smoke. Youth initiation of smoking is of particular concern. Policy interventions such as raising awareness of the harms of smoking, discouraging people from initiating smoking, increasing the cost of tobacco products, implementing smoke-free laws, and encouraging quitting, will help to halt and prevent a worsening of the tobacco epidemic in Kenya.
In response to the tobacco epidemic, Kenya’s government ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) on 25th June 2004 and has domesticated it through comprehensive national legislation. The Tobacco Control Act 2007 provides for extensive, effective tobacco control measures including a ban on smoking in public places; a ban on direct and indirect tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship; a ban on the sale of tobacco products to and by minors; a requirement for tobacco products to carry health warnings; and a requirement that tobacco control measures, including public awareness and cessation interventions, are integrated into the health care service.
Dr. Khadijah Kassachoon, Principal Secretary, Ministry of Health, Kenya, said: “As Government, we are committed to ensuring that all Kenyans access the highest attainable standards of health and live in a healthy environment. We know the cost of tobacco use on users and second-hand tobacco on others and as such we are on course to curtail smoking, ensuring that Kenyans are protected against tobacco and exposure to tobacco smoke.”
Sandra Mullin, Senior Vice President, Policy and Communications, World Lung Foundation, said, “Studies from around the world show that the most effective mass media campaigns feature strong, graphic, negative messages about the health harms of tobacco (1). “Tobacco Kills – Quit Now!” is effective because it helps people to understand the real and specific dangers of second-hand smoke to babies and children, whose respiratory systems are highly vulnerable to the damage caused by second-hand smoke. WLF is pleased to support the Kenyan Ministry of Health in launching this national anti-tobacco campaign.”
The Importance of Mass Media Campaigns in Tobacco Control
Mass media is a cost-efficient (2) way to encourage support for tobacco control policy, promote behavior change in both smokers and non-smokers, reduce smoking, encourage quitting and prevent young people from initiating tobacco use, because it reaches large segments of the population. Countries can further save time and resources by adapting campaigns that have performed well in other countries. Sustained use of hard-hitting mass media campaigns contribute to population-level decreases in smoking prevalence by increasing knowledge about the health risks of tobacco use, encouraging quit attempts and improving quit rates.
Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of mortality in the world today, and is responsible for more than five million deaths each year – one in ten adults worldwide. Research has shown mass media campaigns are one of the most effective means of prompting people to stop smoking. It is also one of the World Health Organization’s M-P-O-W-E-R (W=Warn) strategies to reduce tobacco consumption. M-P-O-W-E-R strategies are endorsed and promoted by the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use, funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, of which World Lung Foundation is a principal partner.
Additional support for this campaign was provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the American Cancer Society, and the African Tobacco Control Alliance.
*NOTE TO EDITORS: Screenshots and video copies of the PSA are available upon request or via www.health.go.ke. The PSA is available to view at http://youtu.be/dPnC-cKywuk (Swahili version) or http://youtu.be/4yHDpCbxLJs (English version).
1 a) National Cancer Institute, The role of the media in promoting and reducing tobacco use. Tobacco Control Monograph No. 19. NIH Pub. No. 07-6242, 2008, USDHHS, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute: Bethesda MD.; b) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs, 2007, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health: Atlanta, GA; c) World Health Organization, Smoking cessation media campaigns from around the world: Recommendations from lessons learned, 2001, World Health Organization: Copenhagen. 2 a) Durkin, S, et al., “Mass media campaigns to promote smoking cessation among adults: an integrative review,” Tobacco Control, November 2011 http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/21/2/127.full b) Atusingwize, E et al., “Economic evaluations of tobacco control mass media campaigns: a systematic review,” Tobacco Control, July 2014 http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/early/2014/07/01/tobaccocontrol-2014-051579.full c) HHS, Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults, A Report of the Surgeon General, 2012 http://www.cdc.gov/Features/YouthTobaccoUse/
Online Cigarette Pack Images Resource Unveiled at COP6 to Help African Governments Cost-Effectively and Bluntly Warn Against Tobacco Thursday, October 16, 2014
* World Lung Foundation and the Secretariat of the WHO FCTC Host 50 Cost-Free Images Tested in Africa That Clearly Explain Harms of Tobacco Use *
(Moscow, Russia; Geneva, Switzerland and New York, USA) – At the Conference of the Parties (COP6) to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), World Lung Foundation (WLF) and the Secretariat of the WHO FCTC (the Convention Secretariat) today unveiled a new tool to support graphic warnings for cigarette packs in Africa.
Key stakeholders from governments across Africa are attending COP6, enabling the Convention Secretariat and WLF to promote this new tool to the potential user base. Over 50 images, which were rigorously tested among smokers and non-smokers in Africa and proven to be highly effective, will be available to governments at no cost. Images are accompanied by corresponding text messages available in English and French. WLF and the Convention Secretariat expect the new online database of images and messages – the Africa Graphic Pack Warning Resource – to ease access and to reduce the time and cost for governments to implement effective graphic warnings. Countries such as Burkina Faso, Chad, Kenya, Niger and South Africa are all expected to require such warnings in the next year to fulfill their obligations to the WHO FCTC, a global treaty governing tobacco control.
The images in the database are arranged into three categories: Harms/Cessation, Secondhand Smoke and Socioeconomic Consequences. Each category will also have style options that focus on medical consequences, victims of tobacco use and emotional suffering. WLF tested the images among 1,200 smokers and non-smokers in Senegal and Botswana, seeking images that would score highly on measures that are known to predict effectiveness for encouraging people to quit tobacco use.
Sandra Mullin, Senior Vice President, Policy and Communications, World Lung Foundation said: “Policies like graphic pack warnings act as a vaccine for the tobacco epidemic in that they prompt smokers to quit and keep young people from starting. We acknowledge African governments that are willing to be aggressive in warning citizens about deadly tobacco use. With only three out of forty-seven countries in sub-Saharan Africa currently with graphic pack warnings, we hope the new database will enable governments to skip the steps of sourcing, adapting and testing images that can be effective. We’ve done that work so they don’t have to.”
Dr. Vera Luiza da Costa e Silva, Head of the Convention Secretariat, WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control commented: “Article 11 of the WHO FCTC requires governments – including the Parties to the Convention in Africa - to implement large, rotating health warnings on all tobacco product packaging and labelling. WHO FCTC recommends the use of full-color pictures to communicate the harms of tobacco. The Africa Graphic Pack Warning Resource is a significant step in providing images that have been proven to work in African countries. We encourage African governments to use the Resource to honor their commitments under WHO FCTC and protect the health of their citizens.”
The Africa Pack Warning Resource was developed by WLF in partnership with the Convention Secretariat and in close consultation with a group of African public health, medical, academic, and media experts. Financial support for the project was provided by the Convention Secretariat. Materials can be requested through the Africa Graphic Pack Warning Resource website and directly through the Convention Secretariat and WLF.
Prevention is The Critical Strategy in Africa
A recent report by the Network of African Science Academies, “Preventing a Tobacco Epidemic in Africa: A Call for Effective Action to Support Health, Social, and Economic Development”, concluded that without concerted action to introduce and enforce tobacco control, smoking prevalence in the African region will increase by nearly 39 percent by 2030, from 15.8 percent in 2010 to 21.9 percent. This is the world’s largest expected regional increase in smoking prevalence by 2030. Similarly, American Cancer Society estimates that the implementation of proven tobacco control policies could prevent 139 million premature deaths in the region by 2100.
Growing economic prosperity has caught the attention of the tobacco industry, which routinely refers to Africa as a growth market, comparatively unencumbered by the tobacco control measures that have helped to decrease smoking prevalence across regions like Europe and North America. This has helped to galvanize the efforts of governments, NGO’s and civil society to legislate in favor of public health and potentially avoid an increase in tobacco-related non-communicable diseases and premature deaths that could hamper Africa’s economic growth.
Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of mortality in the world today, and is responsible for more than five million deaths each year—one in ten preventable deaths worldwide. The implementation of more effective pack warnings is one of the main commitments governments have made under the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). It is one of the World Health Organization’s M-P-O-W-E-R (W=Warn) strategies to reduce tobacco consumption. MPOWER strategies are endorsed and promoted by the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use, of which World Lung Foundation is a principal partner.
About World Lung Foundation
World Lung Foundation was established in response to the global epidemic of lung disease, which kills 10 million people each year. The organization also works on maternal and infant mortality reduction initiatives. WLF improves global health by improving local health capacity, by supporting operational research, by developing public policy and by delivering public education. The organization’s areas of emphasis are tobacco control, maternal and infant mortality prevention, tuberculosis, asthma, and child lung health. For more information, please visit worldlungfoundation.org or twitter @worldlungfdn
For more information, please contact: Tracey Johnston, World Lung Foundation at tjohnston@worldlungfoundation.org
First Regional Francophone Africa Mass Media Campaign Launches to Show Devastating Toll of Tobacco Use Monday, September 8, 2014
Campaign Launches Across Francophone Africa with Support of Ministries of Health
(Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire and New York, USA) – The first-ever regional anti-tobacco mass media campaign launched across Francophone Africa today, including nationwide rollout of the campaign in Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Senegal and Benin. The campaign, called Idrissa, is designed to warn people about the health harms of tobacco and the toll cigarettes take on smokers and their families.
Launched locally today by Ministries of Health across Francophone Africa, Idrissa was developed with technical and financial support from World Lung Foundation and support from the Africa Tobacco Control Alliance (ATCA), American Cancer Society (ACS) and The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease. The campaign was enabled by funding from The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Bloomberg Philanthropies, through the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use.
Idrissa tells the story of Idrissa Diallo, a tailor living in Guinea Bissau, who started smoking cigarettes when he was a young man. After years of addiction, Idrissa developed a devastating mouth cancer that left him unable to work and provide for his family. So bad was the cancer that Idrissa could not even eat outside his home because local children were scared of his appearance. Tragically, Idrissa died of cancer two months after this PSA was created. The campaign also includes a quit line in Côte d’Ivoire (call 143) as well as quit tips.
Idrissa is the first anti-tobacco ad developed specifically for francophone Africa. Airtime has been purchased across broadcast media in four countries to ensure the advertisement is seen by the greatest possible number of people. It will run on television for one month.
"When you're young, unfortunately, you don’t particularly think about the future and there is no particular health program to follow or adhere to," said Dr. Coulibaly of the Ministry of Health in Côte d'Ivoire. "The Ministry for Health focuses especially on youth and addresses, high school and middle school students. It is our youth where the future of tobacco control rests. If this campaign works for them, it will work for all."
Peter Baldini, Chief Executive, World Lung Foundation, commented: “We are delighted to have worked with the Ministries of Health who have joined this campaign including Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Senegal and Benin to air Idrissa across the region. This hard-hitting, graphic campaign shows viewers the terrible truth about smoking, both the real health harms to individuals and the devastating consequences for their families. Tobacco use has deprived Idrissa’s family of its main earner, left his wife a widow and his children without a father. This reality bears no relation to the glamorous images and misleading messages peddled by the tobacco industry. African countries are increasingly the target of such devious marketing, so governments must act now to prevent millions more people suffering Idrissa’s fate.”
A recent report by the Network of African Science Academies, “Preventing a Tobacco Epidemic in Africa: A Call for Effective Action to Support Health, Social, and Economic Development”, concluded that without concerted action to introduce and enforce tobacco control, smoking prevalence in the African region will increase by nearly 39 percent by 2030, from 15.8 percent in 2010 to 21.9 percent. This is the world’s largest expected regional increase in smoking prevalence. Similarly, American Cancer Society estimates that the implementation of proven tobacco control policies could prevent 139 million premature deaths in the region by 2100. Tobacco control is critical because it has the potential to avoid an increase in tobacco-related non-communicable diseases such as cancer and heart disease and premature deaths that could hamper Africa’s economic growth.
Tobacco use in Côte d’Ivoire
Tobacco use is a growing problem in Côte d’Ivoire. According to the DHS and Tobacco Atlas,* 25.1 percent of adult males are current smokers, as are 1.8 percent of adult females. Youth smoking rates are estimated to be 19.3 percent. Smoking is estimated to be responsible for 9 percent of all adult male deaths in Côte d’Ivoire.
Tobacco Use in Francophone Africa
| Country |
Male Smoking Prevalence (age 15-49) |
Female Smoking Prevalence (age 15-49) |
Male Youth Smoking (age 13-15) |
Exposure to Secondhand Smoke |
| Burkina Faso | 23.7% | 4.0% | 14.1% | 32.9 |
| Sénégal | 17.7% | 0.2% | 12.1% | 47.6 |
| Bénin | 10.6% | 0.9% | 3.3% | 21.5 |
| Côte d'Ivoire | 25.1% | 1.8% | 19.3% | 33.1 |
*Sources, Demographic and Health Service (2010-12) and Tobacco Atlas IV
Significant Progress in Tobacco Control in West Africa in 2014
Earlier this year, the government of Senegal passed a comprehensive tobacco control law, aimed at protecting non-smokers, encouraging current smokers to cut down and quit and dissuading youth from initiating tobacco use. It includes an increase in tobacco taxes; a commitment to ensuring that the tobacco industry does not interfere with health policy; comprehensive smoke-free laws; a comprehensive ban on advertising; the introduction of graphic and text health warnings to cover 70 percent of cigarettes packs; and a ban on the sale of cigarettes inside and near schools, universities, hospitals, and government buildings. Benin recently drafted a new tobacco control bill compliant with international tobacco control treaty standards. The legislation is expected shortly. Côte d'Ivoire recently added financial penalties for establishments and smokers that do not comply with the country’s smoke-free law. Graphic Pack Warnings are also expected to be implemented soon in Burkina Faso.
Strong Anti-Tobacco Policies, Including Tax Increases and Graphic Pack Warnings, Urgently Needed in Africa Thursday, November 21, 2013
(New York, USA) –– World Lung Foundation (WLF) today called upon governments and civil society in Africa to take urgent action to prevent an impending tobacco epidemic on the continent. This call coincides with the launch of the Africa Tobacco Report from the American Cancer Society. The report states that without the implementation and enforcement of new tobacco control policies, the number of adult smokers in Africa will increase from 77 million to 572 million by 2100.
The report finds that the use of graphic images on cigarette packs to warn people about tobacco’s harms can increase the cessation rate by 23 percent, an intervention that costs governments and advocates virtually nothing. It also notes that:
• Among both boys and girls, smoking prevalence in Africa is 9 percent and 3 percent, respectively. This is higher than in other developing regions, and appears to be rising. • Between 2012 and 2020 the implementation and enforcement of evidence based policies to reduce tobacco use in Africa can reduce the number of smokers by 37 million; by 2100 an estimated 277 million fewer smokers would live on the continent. • Prevention is cheaper than dealing with a fully developed epidemic, so tobacco control will become more cost-effective over time providing an even higher return on the investment.
Peter Baldini, Chief Executive Officer, World Lung Foundation, commented: “Many Africans are enjoying greater economic prosperity and longer life expectancy, so it is a cruel irony that the tobacco industry intends to use those two successes to bolster its own profits. Without strong tobacco control, the inevitable outcome will be an increased burden of death and disease, which could reverse the great progress that has been made.”
”Smokers in Africa are more motivated to quit when they understand the impact on their own health and on the health of others. For example, calls to Senegal’s national tobacco quit line surged 588 percent after an anti-tobacco ad campaign aired. Among people who had been exposed to the campaign, 93 per cent of smokers said they had learned not to expose others to tobacco smoke. Implementing proven tobacco control measures will help to prevent the impending tobacco epidemic in Africa and would send a clear message to Big Tobacco.”
In 2008, WHO identified six evidence-based tobacco control measures that are the most effective in reducing tobacco use. Known as “MPOWER”, these measures correspond to one or more of the demand reduction provisions included in the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC):
• Monitor tobacco use and prevention policies • Protect people from tobacco smoke, Offer help to quit tobacco use • Warn people about the dangers of tobacco • Enforce bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship • Raise taxes on tobacco.
MPOWER strategies are endorsed and promoted by the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use, of which World Lung Foundation is a principal partner.
Further information on the Africa Tobacco Report is available at www.global.cancer.org.
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