Is Africa on Track to Achieve a 30% Reduction in Tobacco Use by 2025?

Africa has been grappling with the escalating burden of tobacco use, which continues to claim lives and strain healthcare systems. In 2013, the World Health Assembly set an ambitious target of reducing tobacco use prevalence by 30% by 2025. With just a year to go, the question arises: is the African continent on track to meet this goal?

The short answer is that progress remains uneven and, in many cases, insufficient. While some nations have made commendable strides in tobacco control through taxation, public awareness campaigns, and smoking bans, others face significant challenges. A rapidly growing population, increasing tobacco industry penetration, and limited cessation support services threaten to undermine efforts.

A glaring gap in Africa's tobacco control strategies is the lack of emphasis on harm reduction. Despite their potential, safer nicotine products continue to face regulatory hurdles and misinformation in many African countries. Some governments have imposed outright bans or excessive taxation, pushing these products into the black market. This not only limits access for smokers seeking safer alternatives but also exposes users to unregulated, potentially hazardous products.

The World Health Organization recognizes that nicotine, while addictive, is not the primary cause of smoking-related diseases—it's the toxins in tobacco smoke. By enabling smokers to switch to safer products, harm-reduction strategies can complement traditional tobacco control measures and accelerate progress toward the 2025 goals.

Africa faces a significant gap in cessation support services for smokers seeking to quit, leaving millions without the resources they need to break free from tobacco addiction. Unlike many high-income regions where smokers have access to structured programs, pharmacotherapy, and professional counseling, most African countries lack these critical services. Public health systems are often underfunded and overburdened, with tobacco cessation receiving low prioritization amidst other pressing healthcare needs. This absence of support leaves smokers with few options, often forcing them to rely solely on willpower or unproven methods.

Countries like the UK, Sweden and New Zealand have successfully integrated harm reduction into their tobacco control frameworks, achieving significant declines in smoking rates. Africa, however, lags behind due to restrictive policies and a lack of public awareness about harm-reduction products.

To get Africa back on track to achieve a 30% reduction in tobacco use by 2025, governments and stakeholders must embrace a more inclusive and pragmatic approach. This can be achieved by replacing outright bans with proportionate regulations that ensure product safety while promoting access to harm-reduction tools.

The path forward is clear, but it requires bold leadership, open-minded policymaking, and a commitment to embracing all tools available in the fight against tobacco use. Only then can Africa truly achieve its 2025 targets and pave the way for a healthier future.