Effective tobacco control measures in Africa will need to be evidence based, underpinned by sound research.
However, it is known that there is a dearth of tobacco control research on the continent.
To solve this problem, the Centre for Tobacco Control in Africa launched the Tobacco Control Research Agenda, issuing 12 grants where researchers can look into tobacco control issues on the continent.
In July, the centre launched a research compendium based on the research findings of the first cohort of grantees to be awarded under the agenda. There were 12 researchers from across the continent.
In a webinar 10 of the 12 awardees shared their research findings with Africa’s tobacco control community. The researchers were from Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, Zambia, Burkina Faso, Burundi and Nigeria. Their research covered tobacco prevalence among the youth and prisoners, exposure to second hand smoke among tour operators, the implementation of tobacco control policies in Kenya, the delay of new tobacco control laws in South Africa, green leaf sickness in Zambia and tobacco control and food insecurity.
The agenda was intended to be a roadmap for tobacco control in Africa and has been aimed at understanding the effects of tobacco in Africa.
The focus was on eight areas of research – tobacco control policy, trends on tobacco, sustainable development, the population at risk, the tobacco industry, the economics of tobacco, tobacco production and the socio-economic context of tobacco.
A call was made to candidates interested in conducting research to answer the agenda questions and from responses, 12 were selected from various parts of Africa and were awarded a 5000 USD grant.
The findings are an important part of efforts to implement tobacco control on the continent. Globally tobacco use is responsible for 5 million deaths annually; the most affected are low- to middle-income groups.
As an economically growing continent, Africa needs to take heed and make strides to understand how this will affect the population as the tobacco industry develops on the continent.
The findings will assist the centre as well country’ tobacco control teams and civil society organisations with future tobacco control interventions.
The Tobacco Research Compendium is now available in French and English here:
