If Africa is going to stem the rising tide of tobacco use on the continent, the policy solutions that tobacco control advocates come up with need to be based on the realities of how the product is used on the continent.
To ensure this becomes a reality, the Centre for Tobacco Control in Africa has launched the Tobacco Control Research Agenda. It will identify research priorities and existing research capacities and gaps and provides a guide for research coordination at regional and national level. It also identifies ways of that bringing policymakers and researchers together to share information and translate research findings into actions.
As part of the agenda, the centre will disburse 12 USD5000 grants will be awarded over the next year.
This first round of calls will target students with innovative research to address any of the eight research priorities that were identified in the tobacco control research agenda for Africa.
These are:
- Patterns, trends and inequalities of tobacco use and exposure for all tobacco products including the new products at country and regional levels (sex, age, region, types of products, new/emerging products)
- Effects of tobacco use and exposure, and sustainable development (poverty, education, culture, HIV, TB, reproductive health, NCDs)
- Tobacco use and populations at risk (youth, young adults, women/gender, elderly, residents of urban areas, military, prisoners, mental health patients, populations in low socio-economic duelling’s like slums)
- Policy analysis and implementation research (smoke free, TAPS, GHWs, cessation) cost effectiveness, impact, drivers, enablers, innovation, challenges, communication and advocacy)
- Sociocultural context of tobacco use
- Tobacco industry and tobacco control policy
- Tobacco production, alternative livelihoods, and environment (distribution, food security, value chain, environmental impact, historical and determinants of tobacco production)
- The economics of tobacco and tobacco control (product, pricing, illicit trade, tobacco trade and taxation
The first call for research proposals has opened – and the deadline for the call is June 30, 2020. Details can be found here.