Photo: Participants at the training
By: Daniel Kanu
Public health experts, government officials, researchers, journalists and civil society advocates from 12 African countries have converged on Lagos for an intensive capacity-building programme aimed at strengthening the continent’s response to tobacco industry interference in public health policies.
The five-day Tobacco Industry Monitoring (TIM) Training Course, organised by the Africa Centre for Tobacco Industry Monitoring and Policy Research (ATIM), is being hosted in Nigeria for the first time and marks the third edition of the initiative designed to equip African advocates with the knowledge and tools required to monitor, expose and counter tobacco industry influence.
Participants at the training are drawn from Kenya, Nigeria, Benin, Botswana, South Africa, Sierra Leone, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Uganda, Zambia, Senegal and Zimbabwe.
The programme is led by renowned tobacco control expert and Director of ATIM, Prof. Lekan Ayo-Yusuf, who is also Head of the School of Health Systems and Public Health at the University of Pretoria, South Africa.
Facilitators include academics from the University of Bath, United Kingdom, alongside public health researchers and policy advocates from the United States, Nigeria, Brazil and Togo.
Addressing participants at the opening session, Ayo-Yusuf described tobacco industry interference as one of the greatest threats to effective tobacco control across Africa, noting that such interference continues to undermine evidence-based public health policies and contributes to preventable illnesses and deaths.
According to him, the training is designed to move tobacco control advocates beyond reacting to industry activities toward proactively anticipating, monitoring and exposing strategies employed by tobacco companies to influence public policy.
“The course is intended to strengthen the capacity of tobacco control advocates to effectively monitor and counteract tobacco industry interference in public health policies in Africa,” he said.
“It will also help advocates better understand how the tobacco industry operates, identify its tactics, hold it accountable and generate credible evidence that can support stronger tobacco control policies.”
Ayo-Yusuf expressed confidence that participants would leave the programme with practical skills to identify and document tobacco industry interference, analyse emerging industry strategies, access and interpret industry documents, identify front groups and third-party allies, and develop effective advocacy campaigns tailored to their respective countries.
Also speaking, Executive Director of Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), Akinbode Oluwafemi, stressed the importance of preparing a new generation of tobacco control advocates capable of confronting the industry’s evolving strategies.
He observed that while tobacco control advocates have recorded significant gains over the years, the tobacco industry continues to reinvent itself through aggressive marketing, lobbying and the promotion of alternative nicotine products presented under what he described as the misleading narrative of “harm reduction.”
“Many of us have worked in tobacco control advocacy for nearly three decades, and we recognise the need to build the next generation of advocates,” Oluwafemi said.
“The participants include government officials, economists, journalists, civil society organisations and public health advocates. Through ATIM, we are equipping them with the skills needed to take the campaign against tobacco industry interference to the next level.”
He further urged African governments to strengthen the implementation of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) and enforce national tobacco control laws to protect children and young people from tobacco and nicotine addiction.
Participants described the training as timely and impactful.
A youth tobacco control advocate with the Kenya Tobacco Control Alliance and Health Promotion, Jackline Mbone Juma, said the programme had provided participants with practical skills in monitoring tobacco industry activities and conducting evidence-based research.
“We have gained hands-on experience in industry monitoring, research methods and accessing tobacco industry documents. The training has also deepened our understanding of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and how it can be effectively implemented,” she said.
Similarly, Emmanuel Onwuka, Communications Officer of the Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA), noted that the programme comes at a critical time when tobacco companies are introducing new products and adopting sophisticated marketing strategies aimed at attracting younger consumers.
He said the knowledge acquired during the training would strengthen his ability to monitor, document and report tobacco industry interference while supporting evidence-based advocacy for stronger tobacco control measures across Africa.
Based at the University of Pretoria, ATIM is a specialised African centre dedicated to tobacco industry monitoring, intelligence gathering and policy research.
The centre works with governments, researchers and civil society organisations to monitor tobacco industry activities, support policy development and strengthen implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control across the continent.
The Tobacco Industry Monitoring course is conducted in both English and French and is open to tobacco control advocates, researchers, academics, journalists and policymakers committed to advancing public health and protecting future generations from the harmful effects of tobacco use.
