Rich turning Africa into an ashtray

Tobacco giants now targeting poor, study finds

The smoking epidemic is being exported from rich to low and middle-income countries‚ warns a new study published in UK medical journal The Lancet.

The National Council Against Smoking in South Africa cautioned – on the back of the Global Burden of Disease study – that as tobacco use declines in the US and Europe‚ multinational companies are targeting poorer countries like SA‚ despite tough laws.

According to the study‚ one in 10 deaths worldwide are caused by smoking and half of these occur in China‚ India‚ the US and Russia.

The researchers warn the tobacco industry is seeking to expand its market “by exploiting sub-Saharan Africa’s patchwork tobacco control regulations and its limited resources to combat the industry’s marketing tactics”.

Dr Yussuf Saloojee‚ executive director of the council‚ said: “Africa, with its young populations‚ low smoking rates‚ lack of strong tobacco control laws and growing economies, is a prime target for the cigarette companies‚ who are trying to turn Africa into the ashtray of the world. But more and more African countries are responding to this change by ratifying the WHO [World Health Organisation] tobacco treaty and implementing its provisions.

“South Africa is a shining example of what can be achieved in Africa.”

Saloojee said the prevalence of smoking has almost halved from 32% in 1994 to 18% in 2012.

“This success is due to the tobacco control laws passed by government‚ including a ban on advertising‚ restricting smoking in public places and increasing the excise tax on cigarettes.”

He warned that cigarette companies have changed their marketing strategies to “get past the law‚ including giving free cigarettes to youth and using social media to target them”.

Government is finalising new regulations to stub out smoking and topping the list is the introduction of plain packaging to reduce brand appeal.

Africa ... is a prime target for cigarette companies. Dr Yussuf Saloojee NATIONAL COUNCIL AGAINST SMOKING

/MARIANNE SCHWANKHART Tobacco companies are exploiting third-world countries with their exports, targeting the youth.