Why are more Africans smoking? The Politics, Policy and Public Health Challenge of Smoking in Africa

Why are more Africans smoking? The Politics, Policy and Public Health Challenge of Smoking in Africa. The World Bank projects that deaths resulting from smoking tobacco in 2025 will exceed deaths due to AIDS, tuberculosis, and complications of childbirth combined, especially in developing countries. A study by Howard Barnum, a senior economist at the bank, estimates that when all costs of smoking tobacco around the world are subtracted from all the actual and perceived benefits, the net result is a global economic loss of about US $200 billion each year. Further, Barnum estimates that for every additional thousand tons of consumption, 650 additional premature deaths will occur and the world economy will suffer a consequential US $27.2 million economic loss. Since many tobacco companies are facing an increasingly hostile environment in their home countries, the evolving strategy of the tobacco industry targets African countries and other developing countries as the strongest potential markets. According to the WHO's recently published World Tobacco Atlas, in order to compensate for their increasing losses in the Western countries, these tobacco companies are counting on an estimated increase of 16% in the consumption of tobacco over the next decade in Africa. Slama (1996), a researcher at the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that by the year 2020, tobacco-related diseases would become Africa's biggest killers. Unfortunately, many Africans are often not well informed about the health risks associated with smoking and a number of them are dying from smoking. African countries face major barriers in the fight against tobacco and the world does not seem interested right now in helping Africa fight against tobacco. Objective: In my presentation, I plan to create awareness on the impact of tobacco in Africa and what this translates to globally. I also want to use this as a platform to begin to map out how smoking rates can be reduced in a place as diverse as Africa.