By JKNewsMedia
STRENGTHENING AFRICA’s capacity to monitor, expose and counter tobacco industry interference in public health policy has taken centre stage as public health advocates from across the continent gather in Lagos for the third edition of the Africa Centre for Tobacco Industry Monitoring (ATIM) and Policy Research Tobacco Industry Monitoring (PRTIM)training course.
JKNewsMedia.com reports that the five-day training, holding in Nigeria for the first time, has brought together carefully selected participants from 12 countries comprising Kenya, Nigeria, Benin, Botswana, South Africa, Sierra Leone, Cote D’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Uganda, Zambia, Senegal and Zimbabwe.
An internationally renowned tobacco control expert, Prof Lekan Ayo Yusuf, is leading the training, with facilitators including lecturers from the University of Bath (UBATH) in England, alongside policy advocates and researchers from the United States (US), Nigeria, Brazil and Togo.
Ayo Yusuf, Head of the School of Health Systems and Public Health (SHSPH) at the University of Pretoria (UP) and Director of ATIM, while welcoming participants, highlighted studies showing that tobacco industry interference in public policy and public health remains a continent-wide challenge, contributing to preventable deaths and undermining effective tobacco control.
He said the course was designed to strengthen the continent’s response by moving advocates from reacting to tobacco industry interference to proactively anticipating, monitoring and countering it through evidence-based action.
“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,” Ayo Yusuf said.
“It is also intended to help advocates better understand the tobacco industry and help them hold it to account which is crucial to further progress in tobacco control.”
He said participants would be better equipped at the end of the training to identify and document tobacco industry interference, analyse emerging industry tactics, search and interpret industry documents, identify front groups and third-party allies and generate evidence to support effective policy advocacy.
“They will also be able to draft effective tobacco control policies and implementation and draft effective and efficient advocacy strategies for their organisations or countries,” he added.
Executive Director, Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), Akinbode Oluwafemi, said the tobacco industry had “continued to reinvent itself”, making it necessary to prepare a new generation of advocates.
“Some of us have been in tobacco control advocacy for close to three decades and we recognise the need to build the next generation of advocates,” Oluwafemi said.
“Among the participants, you’ll find government officials, civil society organisations, public health advocates, economists, among others. ATIM is building their capacity to take the baton to the next level.”
He said the need for capacity building had become more urgent as the industry increasingly promotes “a false narrative of harm reduction”.
“It is necessary to be able to ensure that advocates get updates about how the industry continues to spread misleading narratives get our youths and children addicted and how government should enforce the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and the national laws as appropriate,” Oluwafemi added.
Participants Commended ATIM For Organising The Course
“We are here in Lagos, Nigeria participating in the ATIM course and, so far, their training has been perfect,” said Jackline Mbone Juma, a youth tobacco control advocate for the Kenya Tobacco Control Alliance and Health Promotion (KTCAHP).
“We’ve learnt a lot. We’ve been able to gain hands on skills on how to conduct industry monitoring and how we can also research, and access tobacco industry documents. Additionally, we’ve been able to understand and reflect on the WHO FCTC.”
Emmanuel Onwuka, a journalist and Communications Officer at the Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA), said the training had come at a crucial time.
“The ATIM Building Capacity in Industry Monitoring for Effective Tobacco Control Advocacy in Africa BETA 3.0 training has come at a crucial time, especially as the tobacco industry continues to develop new tactics and increasingly targets young people,” Onwuka said.
“Through the training, I am gaining valuable knowledge about tobacco use trends and the tobacco industry’s agenda across Africa. I am confident that by the end of the programme, I will be better equipped with the skills and knowledge needed to effectively monitor, document, and report on tobacco industry interference.”
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