Public health experts, policymakers, researchers, and civil society advocates from 12 African countries are meeting in Lagos, Nigeria, for a five-day Tobacco Industry Monitoring course focused on “countering tobacco industry interference” in public health policy. The program, organized by the Africa Center for Tobacco Industry Monitoring and Policy Research, is training participants to monitor industry activity, conduct research, and support implementation of Article 5.3 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
The course covers tobacco taxation, industry document research, political mapping, social media investigations, legal accountability, and the tobacco industry’s evolving harm reduction agenda. ATIM Director Olalekan Ayo Yusuf said multinational tobacco companies increasingly view Africa as a growth market and urged governments to strengthen policies before tobacco use rises. Participants from Kenya, Nigeria, Benin, Botswana, South Africa, Sierra Leone, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Uganda, Zambia, Senegal and Zimbabwe are taking part.
