The scientific evidence is overwhelming. As Robert Beaglehole and colleagues at the World Health Organization (WHO) pointed out years ago, tobacco is the only consumer product that eventually kills half of its regular users if they follow its manufacturers’ recommendations.
Given this dire reality, it is clear that Africa is now at a crossroads. On one hand, the countries in this region have become an attractive and under-tapped market as tougher regulations, high taxes, and greater consumer awareness of the dangers of smoking in developed countries are “closing the door” to tobacco imports and leading to significant drops in consumption. And on the other hand, cigarettes are becoming increasingly affordable as incomes rise in several African countries due to the rapid economic growth of recent years. Indeed, African countries are experiencing the highest increase in the rate of tobacco use amongst developing countries--the number of smokers in sub-Saharan Africa is projected to increase 148 percent by 2030, to 208 million smokers or one-fifth of the total population.
Should African governments and the international community be concerned with this development?
I firmly believe, yes. If the current smoking patterns continue unabated, they will accelerate the growth of tobacco-related non-communicable chronic diseases (e.g., lung cancer, respiratory problems, heart attacks) compounding the already heavy burden imposed by communicable diseases (e.g., HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria). Besides undermining the health of the population and their productive potential and contributing to lives lost, Africa will be confronted with major health system and funding challenges to deal with these chronic diseases. The magnitude of these challenges is best illustrated by the United States, where cigarette smoking is estimated to cause annually more than 400,000 deaths and about US$200 billion in health-related economic losses, nearly half in direct medical costs.
The good news is that Africa is fighting back. Some 42 African countries have already signed the 2003 WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) that binds them to a number of anti-tobacco measures, including high taxes on tobacco products and protecting people from exposure to tobacco smoke.
On June 3-5, 2012, the World Bank, in partnership with the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), the Ministry of Finance of Botswana, the Bloomberg and Gates Foundations, and WHO, is convening in Gaborone, Botswana, a high level forum “The Economics of Tobacco Control: Taxation and Illicit Trade.” With the participation of delegations from Ministries of Finance, Trade, and Health of 14 SADC member countries and global and regional experts, the aim of the forum is to promote dialogue on best practices in effective design and administration of excise taxes on tobacco as an instrument to promote public health and to share knowledge on the dimensions, causes, and extent of illicit trade of tobacco and strategies to control it.
These topics are critical for helping create a “smoke-free” environment in Africa. Of all the demand-reduction strategies outlined in the FCTC, increasing the retail price of tobacco products through higher excise taxes to make tobacco products less affordable is the single most effective way to decrease consumption and encourage tobacco users to quit. And, contrary to tobacco industry claims, the forum will be geared to show that increased tobacco smuggling does not automatically follow tax increases if governments show committed and strengthened law enforcement to combat smuggling and counterfeiting.
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