Cigarette appears in numerous cultural works broadcasted on our television sets. This helps to contribute to the normalization of the act of smoking and stimulating youths to consume tobacco.

It is odorless, it does not blacken the teeth, it does not smoke anyone. Yet tobacco on screen is havoc! During this period of cultural launching in Cameroon, we have decided to orientate our attention on tobacco use on screens. In effect, following the ban on tobacco advertisements, the tobacco industry is using the cinema and music industry to promote its products and encourage tobacco consumption.

So, tobacco use scenes are bound within the Cameroonian 7th art world. These show that smoking is fun, exciting and even sexy. On screens, smokers are always rich people, powerful, seductive or rebels. This gives smokers a respectable and admirable profile. Unconsciously, viewers associate the act of smoking to a cool and glamorous behavior.

To the Cameroon Coalition to Counter Tobacco (C3T), this standardization and commoditization of the act of smoking in cultural works is a call for concern. Because as you know, tobacco is nothing like that in real life. To the contrary it is harmful, dangerous and deadly.

Smoking on screen influences youths

The youth public is particularly influencable, this is known to all. According to a European study published in 2011 by the German institute of therapy and health research, adolescents regularly exposed to these consumption scenes of tobacco noticed to multiply thrice their risk of starting to smoking. If their preferred actors/actresses smoke always on the screen, the risk will be 16 times to adopt a positive attitude towards smoking.

The situation of tobacco use in Cameroon

According to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey-2013 (GATS), 8,9% of adults representing ( 1,1 million inhabitants) are tobacco users. Among youths more than 300 000 students or 10, 1% of the Cameroonian youth population (13-15 years) consume tobacco products, according to the Global Youth Tobacco Survey-2014 (GYTS).

To achieve emergence, Cameroon will be in need of a valid and healthy population. However, the influence of the insidious tobacco advertising in cultural works will dampen this if nothing is done. To reduce the number of victims effective measures are needed.

Between fiction and illusion, smoking in cultural works takes the starring role. Yet, in reality it is addictive and kills prematurely one out of two smokers.