New report shows how tobacco companies target African kids in schools
An Africa regional survey
conducted by the African Tobacco Control Alliance (ATCA) reveals that
multinational tobacco manufacturing companies are systematically targeting
children as young as six years old to pick up the habit of smoking cigarettes.
The survey exposes the aggressive
marketing tactics of tobacco companies such as British American Tobacco (BAT)
and Philip Morris International (PMI) who display cigarettes next to sweets and
snacks at kiosks directly outside the gates of primary and secondary schools.
At the launch of the survey
findings at a press conference in Johannesburg on Wednesday December 7, Deowan
Mohee, the ATCA Executive Secretary, exposed the tobacco companies’ tactics by
providing evidence based on research and monitoring in five countries in
Africa.
“The evidence is clear. British American
Tobacco, Philip Morris International, and other tobacco companies deliberately
and systematically target African children near their schools in order to
encourage cigarette smoking among them,” he said.
The survey was conducted in 2016
in a radius of 100 meters around 79 schools in 5 African countries.
“The survey findings lay bare the
egregious tactics used by tobacco companies to market their deadly products to
young school children, making them accessible and affordable,” Leonce Sessou,
ATCA Communications Manager, added.
The survey indicates that the
tobacco industry makes extensive use of advertising and promotion to encourage
school children to experiment with tobacco, increase consumption and normalize
the habit. In Burkina Faso, 100% of the schools surveyed are surrounded by
stores that advertise cigarettes openly.
Apart from advertisements,
tobacco companies also promote the sale of single sticks and child-friendly
flavoured cigarettes to lure the children to the cheap and sweet-tasting
products. According to the ATCA survey, these marketing activities of the
tobacco companies are being carried out in violation of existing national laws
in countries like Nigeria and Uganda. In both countries, despite the
prohibition on tobacco advertising and promotion, BAT continues with the
practice around schools.
Tobacco Use in Africa: Tobacco
Control through Prevention, a 2013 report from the American Cancer Society,
indicates that African children smoke at comparable levels, and sometimes even
higher than other developing regions of the world. While not clear, this can be
attributed to the aggressive marketing tactics from the tobacco companies.
ATCA and its partners have
therefore called out to African governments across the continent to enact and
vigilantly enforce laws that are compliant to the World Health Organisation
Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
“If unchecked, the aggressive
marketing strategy of tobacco companies towards children will contribute to a
major epidemic of tobacco use in Africa, causing unprecedented health,
economic, social and environmental consequences,” Mohee stresses.
Speaking on the report, Deputy
Executive Director of Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria
(ERA/FoEN), Akinbode Oluwafemi, said: “The ATCA report has again exposed the
length the tobacco companies will go to addict our kids. Governments across
Africa must put in place and implement effective measures to stop this unwholesome
practice which is targeted at the lungs of our kids.”
Oluwafemi added that
recommendations in the ATCA report, particularly the ban on single sticks and
small packs sale, and total prohibition of tobacco advertising promotion and
sponsorship (TAPS) near schools should be taken with more seriousness and
enforced by African governments.
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