Uganda leading in combating tobacco interference in Africa

Nov 16, 2021

Fourteen African countries participated in this year’s survey, while globally, 80 countries were surveyed with the global launch of the survey scheduled for November 2, 2021.

Uganda leading in combating tobacco interference in Africa

Jonathan Driliga
Journalist @New Vision

Uganda has been ranked as the best-performing country in combating tobacco industry interference in the African Continent. This revelation was made during the virtual launch of the 2021 survey on the tobacco Industry interference index.

Kenya, Gambia, Ethiopia and Botswana followed in that order. According to the report, the worst-performing countries as far as tobacco Industry interference include Zambia, Tanzania, Mozambique, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Senegal and Nigeria.

Fourteen African countries participated in this year’s survey, while globally, 80 countries were surveyed with the global launch of the survey scheduled for November 2, 2021.

According to the survey, the higher the score, the poorer the performance of a country’s government to deal with tobacco industry interference.

Uganda registered a score of 34 in preventing tobacco industry interference, followed by Kenya with 39 and Gabon 49 whereas Ethiopia, Botswana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia scored 49, 50, 50, 53, 54, 56, 57, 64, 64 and 78 respectively.

Tobacco Industry Interference

Tobacco Industry Interference

The African survey was championed by the African Tobacco Control Alliance (ATCA) with support from the Africa Centre for Tobacco Industry Monitoring and research (ATIM)and the Global centre for good governance in Tobacco Control (GGTC).

Richard Baguma Tinkasimire, the Coordinator of Uganda Health Communication Alliance (UHCA) a civil society organization that is at the forefront of the campaign against the activities of the tobacco industry in the country said Uganda’s success story is the work of several stakeholders in the country’s tobacco control efforts.

“One stakeholder or even divided stakeholders can’t achieve this continental accolade, we must celebrate the government. Government’s commitment and the political will and the high level of compliance to Uganda’s Tobacco Control Act of 2015, and efforts of the media on the tobacco control agenda has contributed immensely to the achievement of this feat,” he said.

He, however, noted with concern that the tobacco industry has put up a spirited effort in form of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and online marketing especially during the Covid-19 lockdown to sell more tobacco products. 

Baguma also said illicit trade in tobacco products is on the increase in the continent and globally, thus the urgent need to put up more efforts to control the devastating impact of tobacco on human life and the development process.

He appealed for strengthening of the regional tax legislative agenda to effectively deal with the issue of illicit trade and other approaches the tobacco industry is undertaking to achieve its interests in the region.

Dr Hafsa Luswata, an assistant commissioner, mental health focal person at the Ugandan Ministry of Health and also an anti-tobacco activist attributes Uganda’s success to goodwill from the government to support article 5.3 of the WHO Frame Work Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) which calls for transparency in the implementation of the law on tobacco control.

“Many people are conscious about the legal provision and so do not want to be caught up on the wrong side of the law, hence the success in the implementation of the tobacco control Act of 2015,” she explained.

Dr Luswata also said Uganda has a vibrant civil society that continuously looks out for breaches in these provisions and a strong coordination mechanism at different levels which works through a multi-sectoral committee coordinated by the National Tobacco Control Committee which works on various fronts to curtail infiltration by the tobacco industry.

She says this success story makes them more motivated to do better in the African agenda to mitigate the tobacco industry interference on the socio-economic wellbeing of Africans.

Article 5.3 of the Convention requires that “in setting and implementing their public health policies with respect to tobacco control, Parties shall act to protect these policies from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry in accordance with national law”.

Leonce Sessou, the Executive Secretary of the African Tobacco Control Alliance (ATCA), commended Uganda, Kenya and Gabon for excelling in the index, and encouraged countries like Zambia, Tanzania, Mozambique and South Africa to put more effort and commitment to curb industry interference in their health policies.

“We cannot continue to watch the tobacco industry snuff life out of our fellow citizens. The index suggests simple and practical solutions to these problems; governments can protect their health policies from tobacco industry interference by establishing a code of conduct guiding interactions between government officials and the industry, and ensuring strict implementation of such codes where they already exist,” he emphasised.

Dr Mary Asunta, the head of the Global Research and Advocacy (GGTC) a global tobacco industry watchdog, hailed Uganda for putting in place strong legislation to control tobacco.

“You do not need to be a high-income country to address tobacco industry interference, but a good political will, is the game-changer,” she said.

She said what is worrisome is the deterioration of Countries such as Ethiopia, South Africa and Nigeria in tobacco control with the tobacco industry exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic by providing CSR to countries.

Key findings

The report indicates that there were variations in country performances: Zambia and Tanzania top the list in Africa with the highest level of tobacco industry interference on almost all indicators among the fourteen countries in 2021; as compared to the ranking of countries in the 2020 global index.

Ethiopia dropped by 17% (from 42 to 49), and although modest, Ghana improved in 2021 (from 58 to 56). The report also highlights increased corporate social responsibility (CSR) enabled interaction with governments.

That the industry exploited opportunities provided by the pandemic to engage with government bodies and capitalized on the vulnerability of several African governments facing a shortage of resources during the pandemic.

The report further indicates that policy development was influenced by Zambia, Tanzania and Nigeria recording the highest tobacco industry influences on governments in policy development. 

Recommendations

The Index report recommends full implementation of Article 5.3 of the WHO FCTC and its guidelines in order to combat interference by the tobacco industry, particularly on the manoeuvring of the tobacco industry to hijack the political and legislative process, exaggerating the economic importance of the Africa Regional Tobacco Industry Interference.

The report further indicates that the Tobacco Industry continues to manipulate public opinion to gain the appearance of respectability, fabricating support through front groups and intimidating governments with litigation or the threat of litigation.

The report recommends countries disclose and communicate interactions with the tobacco industry. That clear communication and disclosure should be made to clarify the motivations of funding of research institutions, academics, and scientific studies to prevent unseen biases in science on which policy may be based.

It suggests that the approach should also be applied to non-governmental organizations, business and trade associations, consumer groups, think tanks, professional associations and others seeking involvement or input in tobacco control policies.

It further suggests that the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products should be ratified

The report recommends that increased awareness-raising among all sectors of government on the obligation to protect tobacco control policies and what they can do to counteract industry interference.

It further states that governments must ensure transparency in interactions with the tobacco industry, where all actions, communications and interactions between the government and the industry should be transparent and that governments should adopt a code of conduct for dealing with the tobacco industry. That the code of conduct would protect officials from industry influence and limits interactions to only when strictly necessary.

The report urged governments to enforce their tobacco control laws to stop tobacco industry interference. 

In Kenya, for example, it is recommended that action be taken on tobacco industry players and public officials who continue to flout the provisions on the protection of tobacco control policies from tobacco industry interference.

Tobacco kills eight million people annually

Experts say tobacco is one of the biggest public health threats in the world, killing more than eight million people annually in the world.

The majority of these deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in Africa and the Middle East.

The World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) indicates that there is a fundamental and irreconcilable conflict between the tobacco industry’s interests and public health policy interests because the tobacco industry produces a highly addictive and deadly product.

The tobacco industry operates with the sole motive to increase profits, despite the devastating costs to population health and economic development.

One of the essential components of a comprehensive global tobacco control strategy is the systematic monitoring of tobacco industry activities that undermine countries’ tobacco control policies and programs at all levels of government.

Article 5.3 of the FCTC urges Parties to protect their public health policies relating to tobacco control from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry in accordance with national law.

Furthermore, guidelines on Article 5.3 contain recommendations on how governments can achieve tobacco industry monitoring.

Unfortunately, Africa is home to many major tobacco-producing countries such as Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe as well as a major market for tobacco products especially cigarettes.

Despite evidence that there is significant progress in tobacco control worldwide, progress in compliance in Africa has been slow.

Countries such as Eritrea, Malawi, and South Sudan have not yet signed nor ratified the FCTC despite being the major producers and consumers of tobacco.

Nonetheless, some important progress towards strengthening the effective implementation of the WHO FCTC in the Africa Region have been made.

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