Some 30 journalists from Bafoussam and other localities in the West Region of Cameroon were last Wednesday 8th February, 2017 schooled on tobacco control in Cameroon. The journalists who came from the audiovisual, print and online media were lectured on the need to adopt Graphic Health Warning regulations in the country, as well as the need for a tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship ban in the country. They were also drilled on interference tactics by the tobacco industry, the results of the Tobacco Industry Accountability (TIA) Project and the importance of a smoke free environment.

In the question and answer sessions that followed these presentations, the journalists asked questions ranging from what the coalition is doing to counter the tobacco industry to why we do not stop the production and importation of tobacco products all together. Some participants sought to know the strategies the coalition is taking to get the information to remote areas given that a lot of tobacco consumption takes place in such areas.

After all their questions were answered, the journalists received kits containing detailed information on all the issues discussed during the media dialogue and information on the GYTS Cameroon 2014, as well as the components of a good tobacco control law.

The excitement displayed by participants of the Bafoussam Media Dialogue proves their interest in tobacco control and their willingness to accompany the fight.

Tuesday the 24th January 2017 goes down the History of the Cameroonian Coalition for Tobacco Control (C3T) as the day the organization held its concertation meeting for 2017.  The 13 Participants at the meeting, all members of the coalition brainstormed on activities to be executed for the year, that could yield fruits and save the lives of Cameroonians.

During the meeting, it was noted that the coalition was very active in 2016 as it successfully celebrated its 10th anniversary in Bamenda and Yaounde, organized training workshops for journalists, the civil society and the tobacco control inter-ministerial committee of Cameroon, as well as a poster exhibition to push for the adoption of Graphic Health Warnings (GHWs) in Cameroon.

Members also noted with satisfaction, the coalitions vigilance to detect subtle publicity by the tobacco industry through billboards planted in different parts of the country, and its ability to counter this interference with support from the African Tobacco Control Alliance (ATCA). They also expressed their satisfaction with the coalitions ongoing campaign to get regulations for GHWs and a Tobacco Advertising Promotion and Sponsorship (TAPS) Ban in the country.

Still in collaboration with ATCA, C3T carried out the first phase of the Tobacco Industry Accountability (TIA) Project which aimed to show that the industry targets schools in its advertising and promotion campaigns. C3T’s performance was highly appreciated by ATCA, this to the satisfaction of members of the coalition.

For the year 2017, C3T members adopted that the coalition continues with this push so that it consolidates the progress made so far even as it advances in efforts to get regulations. Members adopted that the coalition continues to have sensitization campaigns in schools and youth groups, advocacy visits, media dialogues and other regular activities of the coalition. Perhaps the most interesting piece of information from the meeting is the resolve to have another GHWs poster exhibition in Douala, as part of activities to commemorate World No Tobacco Day 2017.

Tobacco control activists and individuals with tobacco control interest can therefore expect to have a spectacular 2017 with C3T.

In September 2016, C3T brought to the attention of the government of Cameroon, several giant signboards planted in different towns in Cameroon. The posters were supported by GICAM, the Employer's League of Cameroon and carried as main messages, “Contraband Cigarettes Finance Insecurity”, “Stop to Contraband Cigarettes” and “Contraband Will Take You To Prison”. They further encouraged citizens to only buy cigarettes that are licensed for sale in Cameroon, and warned of sanctions that await defaulters.

The Problem

The Cameroonian Coalition to Counter Tobacco saw this as a maneuver by the tobacco industry to do outright publicity for tobacco products, and encourage people to smoke. C3T saw these posters as a blatant defiance of the 2006 Law on Publicity which bans all forms of advertising of tobacco products on the mass media in Cameroon.

The Actions

The Coalition in a letter to the Minister of Communication, President of the National Advertising Council, highlighted the fact that linking tobacco consumption/purchase in any form with insecurity is an act of prejudice that undermines the safety and livelihood of Cameroonians. This, according to C3T, is something the government should not tolerate especially at this time when Cameroon is at war with terrorists.

C3T highlighted the fact that the Government of Cameroon has the sole responsibility to track illicit trade in tobacco, and has so far proven that it is doing a marvelous job in that domain. The coalition saw no reason why an Employers' League will want to share that responsibility with the government, if not for the purpose of bypassing the law of the land to carry out publicity for tobacco products.

C3T did not end at writing to the advertising control body in the country; it published a Press Release in the country's lone state owned bilingual daily newspaper, Cameroon Tribune and organized a Press Conference to denounce the action.

The Results

The actions of C3T did not go in vain. The government of Cameroon indeed reacted to all the actions and pressure from the coalition. Less than a month later, C3T received a congratulatory letter from the minister of Communication. In the letter, the minister stated that he had written to GICAM and asked them to take down the billboards. And indeed, the billboards were taken down.

Who says we cannot move mountains when we are united in our fight? C3T heartily thanks the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (CTFK), the African Tobacco Control Alliance (ATCA), and the many other partners who sent in their moral support during that trying moment.

On October 11 2016, the conference room of the John 23 centre in Mvolye – Yaoundé, hosted a workshop on tobacco control in Cameroon. The workshop had 30 participants made up of leaders of organizations of the civil society, journalists and stakeholders, as well as members of the anti tobacco multi-sectoral committee. The workshop informed participants on the merits of getting Graphic Health Warnings on tobacco packs, the prohibition of all forms of advertising, and the denunciation of interference of the tobacco industry in effective tobacco control in Cameroon.

The following were discussed in the workshop:

-The implementation of the WHO FCTC in Cameroon;

-The importance of adopting Graphic Health Warnings;

-The importance of a TAPS Ban;

-Interference of the tobacco industry;

-Results of the Tobacco Industry Accountability (TIA) project

-Illegal advertising of BAT through billboards sponsored by the Inter-employers Group of Cameroun (GICAM) in September.

At the end of the meeting, participants took a commitment to support the coalition in its tobacco control fight, and advocacy for the adoption of regulations on graphic health warnings, as well as a TAPS ban, and even the national anti tobacco law.

 “The teenagers of today are potential customers of tomorrow“.

This statement was found in an internal note of the tobacco industry, and it clearly summarizes their strategy of getting as many young people as possible initiated to tobacco consumption.

One of the places where the tobacco industry is sure to get as many new “recruits” as possible is our schools. The industry understands that youngsters who attend schools will easily want to try something like smoking, and they will be able to do this with very little or no hindrance.

In a bid to understand the tactics the tobacco industry uses to market, promote, and sell their products to young people around schools, the Cameroonian Coalition to Counter Tobacco (C3T) and the Alliance for Tobacco Control in Africa (ATCA) carried out the Tobacco Industry Accountability Project. The project permitted the C3T team to observe close to 20 schools in the city of Yaoundé, Cameroon for tobacco advertising, promotion and sale.

Results

The results of the study showed that there is aggressive advertising of tobacco products just within 100m radius of each of the schools visited. The following was observed;

• 85% of the schools surveyed have shops that expose tobacco products next to sweets and other products of general consumption/necessity.
• In virtually all the 20 schools observed, tobacco advertising through posters is omnipresent.
• 55% of the schools observed have posters of tobacco products.
• About 173 sales points for tobacco products exist within 100 meters of all the 20 schools surveyed. That gives us an average of 9 per school.
• 65% of the schools surveyed have tobacco product sales point right at the entrance of the school premise; visible to everyone coming into and leaving the school.
• 85% of the schools surveyed have road side vendors of other products at their entry, but these vendors sell single sticks of cigarettes (making them quite affordable).

 A deceitful seduction

Tobacco is known to kill 50% of its consumers. To cope with this constant loss of clients, the tobacco industry continuously develops strategies to attract new smokers. Every day, the industry develops massive marketing campaigns to entice youths to smoke and become long-term smokers. A close look at its language and forms will tell you that advertising by the tobacco industry aims directly at young people.

This advertising techniques make use of concepts like a cool attitude, a relaxed lifestyle and exotic products to entice the youths and have them start smoking. Of course such strategic advertising will not easily bypass the youth. They very easily fall prey to these antics of the tobacco industry and start smoking; something they will likely do throughout their lives and suffer later from smoking-related health problems.

Tobacco consumption among the youth in Cameroon

Cameroon, one of the countries that ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) is not exempted from the tobacco industry’s marketing strategy. Advertising and sale of tobacco products target children and young people every single day. According to the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) 2008, smoking is a major public health problem among young people. The study showed that 31.2% of young people aged 13-15 tried smoking before the age of 10, while 5.7% of youths of the same age range were actual smokers of cigarettes, and 9.5% used other tobacco products.

Dire health consequences on the youth

Experts say the earlier you start consuming tobacco products, the harder it is to stop. Six out of ten smokers start before the age of 18 and the effects of this are devastating: respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, stroke, cancers, eye and ear problems, infertility, etc. As already mentioned, half of adults who smoke regularly die prematurely from tobacco-related diseases.

Only a ban on the sale, advertising and promotion of tobacco products around our schools will solve the problem

A total ban on the advertising, sale and promotion of tobacco products near schools will go a long way to solve the problem because it will lead to a drop in consumption. Partial bans have the tendency of permitting the tobacco industry to infiltrate through the other areas where advertising and promotion are still allowed.

The Cameroonian Coalition To Counter Tobacco therefore joins other organizations working to reduce the smoking phenomenon in calling for:

• the prohibition of all forms of advertising and promotion of tobacco products and all forms of sponsorship by the tobacco industry in Cameroon.
• the prohibition of the sale of tobacco products around schools.
• the banning of the display of tobacco products around school entrances.
• the prohibition of the sale of cigarettes in single sticks and in small packages.
• the insertion of the phrase “Sale Prohibited to Minors” to all packages.

The sale, advertising and promotion of tobacco products near our schools is real. The tobacco industry denies it but the results of this study show otherwise. Having ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in 2006, the government of Cameroon can stop this emerging scourge by adopting and implementing a legal framework that will protect the youth.

A complete ban on advertising, marketing and sale of tobacco products in and around our schools is a step in the right direction. Future generations will salute such a gesture; one that prevents the Cameroonian youth from bearing the health, economic and social consequences of tobacco consumption.

Showing the truth saves lives-WHO 2009

The Cameroonian Coalition to Counter Tobacco (C3T) on October 18, 2016, organized a poster exhibition showing The Shocking Truth hidden behind the current packing of tobacco products in Cameroon. The exhibition brought to the spotlight the importance of adopting Graphic Health Warnings on the packages of tobacco products in Cameroon. 16 images were exhibited and a good number of government and other influential authorities were present during the exhibition. Onlookers and especially journalists were pretty impressed with the initiative while authorities present acknowledged the need to adopt Graphic Health Warning in Cameroon, promising to do their bit to help achieve this goal. The exhibition took place at the banquet hall of the Yaoundé City Council (Hôtel de Ville de Yaoundé). You can view pictures and video of the event by visiting here.