Jackie Tumwine

Rendez-vous 163 - January 31, 2007

Thank you Jackie for taking the time to be with us.
May I ask you to introduce yourself by telling us a little about your personal background (education, professional experience) and when, how and why you got involved in tobacco control?

Jackie Tumwine: My name is Jackie Tumwine, I am a Ugandan lawyer with a Bachelor of Laws Degree (LLB) from Makerere University and a Post Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice. I have recently earned a Diplôme de Langue Française (DL) from Alliance Française.

My LLB dissertation entitled- ‘The Child’s Right to a Smoke-Free Environment’ jump started my interest in tobacco control. My research analysed how tobacco violates children’s rights. Soon after completing my dissertation I was fortunate to participate in a FCTC capacity building workshop in Jinja, Uganda in 2004, organized by the Framework Convention Alliance. There I met an amazing group of dedicated tobacco control advocates from Africa, all working hard to fight tobacco’s toll on people’s lives and they were making a difference. In short, I was inspired and chose to take action. Shortly after, I founded the Health and Environmental Rights Organization (HERO-Uganda) and I have been its Executive Director since. HERO-Uganda is active in tobacco control in Uganda, particularly in the area of advocacy for ratification of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and enforcement of our smoke-free law. HERO’s aim is to protect the right to health and the right to a clean and healthy environment through research, advocacy and sensitization.

Q1. Can you tell us about the situation of tobacco in Uganda and what you think the priorities are now for tobacco control? What are the main challenges for tobacco control in your country?

Jackie Tumwine: The 2000-2001 Uganda Demographic and Health survey stated adult smoking prevalence in Uganda to be 14.3%, with male smoking rates at 25.2% and 3.3% for females. According to the 2003 Global Youth Tobacco Survey, youth smoking rates were as high as 33.1% (male 38.2%, female 21.7%) in Arua, a major tobacco growing district in Uganda.

British American Tobacco (BATU) is the main tobacco company and has been in Uganda since the 1920’s. Tobacco is widely grown in 14 districts and just last year BAT announced its plans to make Uganda a ‘centre of excellence’ for tobacco leaf growing in East Africa’. What BAT declined to mention is that BAT will in effect make Uganda a centre of massive deforestation and a centre of discontented farmers impoverished by BATU’s infamous loan schemes.  

Although a 2004 public smoke ban exists, Uganda lacks a comprehensive tobacco control law- one that offers the best protection to the most people, covering a wide range of tobacco control issues like health warnings, labeling and packaging, taxation and prices, sales and distribution, advertising, sponsorship and promotion, anti smuggling and so on. Uganda also needs to ratify the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) which it signed in 2004. One major challenge is the aggressive political and economic influence of BAT which waters down the political will.

Right now the priorities for tobacco control in Uganda are the ratification of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the effective enforcement of the existing smoke-free law, and the regular and substantial increases in cigarette taxes.

Q2. One requirement for the Framework Convention is to upgrade the heatlh warnings on the packs. Can you tell us what the situation is in Uganda?

 

Jackie Tumwine: Currently, the health warnings on cigarette packs in Uganda are microscopic and weak. ‘Cigarette smoking can be harmful to your health’ is written in both English and Kiswahili on the side of the packs. Unfortunately the high illiteracy levels in the country mean that the warnings go unheeded and many smokers remain unaware of how seriously dangerous and deadly smoking is to their health and the health of those around them. Uganda should adopt the effective large, graphic health warnings found on Canadian and Brazilian cigarette packs

Q3. Philip Morris is building a new factory in Senegal, advertising and promotion seem hight everywhere in Africa. How do you assess the influence and activity of the tobacco industry in Uganda?

Jackie Tumwine: In Uganda British American Tobacco (BATU) is quite aggressive in the promotion and marketing of its deadly products. There’s widespread point of sale advertising, Sportsman signs bearing shop names are found on many shops throughout the country, Embassy signs grace most bars and restaurants and frequent competitions are featured in the press. However, corporate social responsibility schemes are a current tobacco industry marketing favourite. BATU’s widely publicized donations are clearly aimed at buying political favour,

improving its negative image and deflecting criticism and unwanted regulation. In the wake of the East African Community, BAT has also a growing regional focus in its activities and marketing, for example, BAT’s sponsorship of the annual East African Jua Kali (local artisans) show and the 2006 transfer of Ugandan and Rwandan tobacco factories to Kenya, making Kenya a centre of manufacturing excellence, Uganda a centre for leaf growing excellence and Rwanda, a centre of excellence for marketing and distribution of BAT’s killer products.

Q4 In many countries the tobacco industry is very influential and is able to limit the impact of tobacco control legislation. How does the government deal with the industry in your country?

Jackie Tumwine: There have been frequent press articles complete with photos of the president and his officials gracing BAT launches and receiving hefty cheques. This tobacco industry influence has undermined Uganda’s efforts to move tobacco control forward.

 Q5. Can you tell us about the main organizations active in tobacco control in Uganda?

Jackie Tumwine: In addition to HERO-Uganda, other organizations active in tobacco control in Uganda include the Environmental Action Network (TEAN) whose court case led to Uganda’s 2004 smoke-free law. The Uganda Tobacco or Health forum is a network of tobacco control advocates in the country whose members include doctors, lawyers, journalists and members of professional medical organizations and environmental groups.  

Q6. A first African Conference on Tobacco or Health has taken place in Casablanca in December 2006, with a majority of representatives of French speaking African countries in attendance. How do you assess the cooperation between tobacco control advocates in Africa? Is there a need for a continent wide network?

 

Jackie Tumwine: Even though coalitions already exist in East Africa and Francophone Africa, a continent wide network where African tobacco control advocates share information, experiences and expertise is absolutely vital. I think existing networks like Globalink can help us achieve this. 

Q7. Is there anything else you want to add?

 

Jackie Tumwine: I would also like to add that already we have a strong Framework Convention on Tobacco Control thanks to the African cooperation and solidarity during the treaty negotiations. Africa needs this cooperation even more as we enter the critical stage of FCTC implementation and as we face head-on the tobacco industry’s unwelcome market expansion into Africa.