South Africa Tobacco Industry Monitoring Report

The Africa Centre for Tobacco Industry Monitoring and Policy Research (ATIM) has published the South Africa Tobacco Industry Monitoring report. This is the first of a series of reports on tobacco industry monitoring in Sub-Saharan Africa prompted by the need to provide a structured report of country experiences of tobacco industry interference in tobacco control. The aim is to garner concerted efforts at both the national and regional levels to counter tobacco industry activities in order to prevent the initiation of the use of tobacco and other nicotine products in this region.

The tobacco industry continues to apply similar interference tactics across various countries. There is a need for a whole-of-government or multi-sectoral approach to the implementation of Article 5.3 and related guidelines in the WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC). This report, compiled using evidence gathered from an extensive online search of the relevant literature, news reports, as well as personal communications between the author and tobacco control advocates in South Africa, provides an understanding of tobacco industry activities and what is being done to counter them in South Africa. It is a useful resource for tobacco control stakeholders. The full report can be accessed here.

Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index launched

The first ever Global Tobacco Interference report has been launched. For the first time, governments are scored on how well they are combating industry interference. The global survey was undertaken in 33 countries and reflects on how public health policies are protected from the industry’s meddling efforts, and how governments have pushed back against this influence.

The Tobacco Industry Interference Index report was published by STOP (Stopping Tobacco Organizations and Products) a watchdog in the industry. Each country is scored annually on overall level of industry influence as well as key indicators. The full report can be accessed here.

South Africa has released their own country report alongside other countries and however, ranked low with a score of 72 reflecting the seriousness of tobacco industry interference and how little protection South Africans have. Click here for a summary or full report.

Global efforts are still needed to support governments to protect their health policy from the tobacco industry.