DOCSLIB.ORG

The Economics of Tobacco Control in South Africa

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Economics of Tobacco Control in South Africa THE ECONOMICS OF TOBACCO CONTROL IN SOUTH AFRICA Corné van Walbeek Thesis presented for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in the Department of Economics UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN October 2005 Supervisor: Prof. Murray Leibbrandt The Economics of Tobacco Control in South Africa Abstract ABSTRACT Between the early 1990s and 2004 aggregate cigarette consumption in South Africa decreased by more than a third and per capita cigarette consumption decreased by about half. Smoking prevalence decreased from 32 per cent in 1993 to 24 per cent in 2003. The average number of cigarettes smoked by smokers decreased from 229 packs in 1993 to 163 packs in 2003. Africans, males, young adults and poorer people experienced the most rapid decreases in smoking prevalence, while the decrease was less pronounced among whites, females, and older and more affluent people. The sharp decrease in smoking in South Africa was the result of an active and consistent tobacco control policy. The policy had two distinct pillars: (1) tobacco control legislation and (2) rapidly increasing excise taxes. In 1993 the Tobacco Products Control Act was passed which introduced health warnings on cigarette packs and advertising material for the first time. A 1999 amendment to the original legislation banned tobacco advertising, prohibited smoking in all indoor public areas, and prohibited the sale of tobacco to minors. The degree of compliance to the legislation is high. While its direct impact on cigarette consumption is not clear, the legislation has helped to de-glamorise smoking and has transferred property rights from smokers to non-smokers. Previously, through social convention, the right to pollute the air with cigarette smoke rested with smokers. The 1999 legislation assigned non-smokers the right to air unpolluted by tobacco smoke. In 1994 the government announced that it would increase the excise tax on cigarettes to 50 per cent of the retail price. This increase was phased in over a number of years. As a result of this policy the real excise tax per pack of cigarettes has increased by 256 per cent between 1994 and 2004, and the real price of cigarettes has increased by 127 per cent over the same period. Despite the sharp fall in cigarette consumption, real government revenue from tobacco excise taxes has increased by more than 140 per cent between 1994 and 2004. The effectiveness of excise tax increases as a mechanism to decrease cigarette consumption depends crucially on the magnitude of the price elasticity of demand. The price elasticity of demand is estimated at about –0.4 for developed countries and between –0.4 and –0.8 for developing countries. In this study the price elasticity of demand for cigarettes in South Africa was estimated at –0.78. Cigarette consumption was found to be highly responsive to income changes. No statistically significant relationship was found between tobacco advertising expenditure and cigarette consumption. Despite the sharp fall in cigarette consumption, the real revenue accruing to the cigarette industry (which includes the cigarette manufacturing industry, its suppliers and downstream service providers) has increased sharply. After decreasing moderately since the 1960s, the real industry price of cigarettes has more than doubled since the early 1990s. The industry price is the retail price net of excise tax and VAT. The increase in the real industry price cannot be attributed to a sharp increase in the real input 2 The Economics of Tobacco Control in South Africa Abstract costs of producing cigarettes. The most plausible explanation is that the high degree of concentration in the cigarette manufacturing industry (British American Tobacco currently has a 93 per cent market share) enabled the industry to exploit its monopoly power. Whenever the excise tax on cigarettes was raised, the industry raised the real retail price of cigarettes by a significantly larger amount. This pricing strategy led to a more rapid decline of the cigarette market than would have been achieved by the excise tax increases alone. As such, the industry’s pricing strategy has had very positive tobacco control consequences, but smokers might feel that the industry has taken advantage of its monopoly power at their expense. It is sometimes argued that excise taxes on tobacco are misdirected, because they are regressive. While tobacco control economists acknowledge this, they contend that this should not be a reason for reducing the excise tax. Instead, they argue that increases in the excise tax tend to reduce the regressivity of the excise tax, because the poor’s cigarette demand is more price sensitive than that of the rich. Using the 1990, 1995 and 2000 Income and Expenditure Surveys, it was found that the regressivity of the cigarette excise tax has decreased sharply in South Africa, for two reasons. Firstly, smoking prevalence among the poor has decreased more rapidly than among the rich. Secondly, the percentage of household income spent on cigarettes has increased by a greater amount among rich households than among poor households. However, there has been a significant shift towards roll-your- own tobacco among poor households, which tempers the results to an extent. However, this does not alter the primary conclusion that tobacco taxes have become significantly less regressive since 1990. All tobacco advertising and sponsorship was banned in 2000. Cinemas, outdoor advertising agencies and the print media were more dependent on cigarette advertising than radio and television. Between the mid-1990s and 1999 the focus shifted from direct product advertising to sponsorship advertising, presumably because sponsorship advertisements were not subject to health warnings. Tobacco advertising expenditure had been decreasing consistently since 1994. Agencies dependent on tobacco advertising had a long period in which to adjust to the ban, which became operative in 2000. 3 The Economics of Tobacco Control in South Africa Chapter 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION1 1.1 In the beginning… Tobacco was first used by the Mayans and Aztecs in Central America. Christopher Columbus introduced it to the Western world in the late fifteenth century, after his pioneering voyage to the West Indies (Brooks, 1952). During the next three centuries tobacco use waxed and waned, depending on the habits of the ruling elites. Tobacco has certainly not been without controversy. The Church in Europe sporadically banned its use, declaring smoking a sin. Opposition to tobacco was based primarily on religious grounds. The first recorded, and often quoted, condemnation of tobacco was made by King James I in Counterblast to Tobacco (1604), in which he described the “filthy novelty” “a custom loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the lungs, and in the black stinking fume thereof nearest resembling the horrible Stygian smoke of the pit that is bottomless.” Many European monarchs found tobacco a handy source of excise revenue, despite religious and moral objections to tobacco use. In fact, even King James I set aside his previous objections and sought ways for the crown to profit from the tobacco trade (USDHHS, 2000: 29). By the eighteenth century tobacco use, and tobacco taxation, were so entrenched in European and North American society that Adam Smith (1776[1937]: 889) argued that “sugar, rum, and tobacco, are commodities which are no where necessaries of life, which are become objects of almost universal consumption, and which are therefore extremely proper subjects of taxation.” Before the twentieth century tobacco was used predominantly for chewing, pipe smoking, inhaling (as snuff) and cigar smoking (Fourie, 1992: 55). Cigarettes were developed early in the nineteenth century but became popular only after the production 1. A shortened version of this chapter has been published in the South African Journal of Economic History, entitled “Tobacco control in South Africa in the 1990s: A mix of advocacy, academic research and policy”. This chapter has benefited much from comments from Yusuf Saloojee, Murray Leibbrandt, Simon Millson and a referee of the Journal. 4 The Economics of Tobacco Control in South Africa Chapter 1 process was mechanised in the 1880s. Large capital intensive companies, that were able to realise economies of scale by using cigarette-rolling machines, rapidly displaced cigarette companies that employed manual labour. In the developed countries cigarettes rapidly replaced other forms of tobacco during the first quarter of the twentieth century. Some religious and civic groups strongly opposed cigarette smoking, and some states in the US even prohibited its use.2 The anti- cigarette crusaders argued their case on moralistic and unsubstantiated and often exaggerated medical grounds. However, before the 1940s professional medical opinion was generally ambivalent about the health impact of cigarette smoking (USDHHS, 2000: 34). The First World War provided a major impetus to cigarette smoking. Cigarettes were typically part of soldiers’ rations, and when the war ended their use spread rapidly to the rest of society. Between 1920 and the mid-1960s per capita cigarette consumption increased about five-fold in the US and most other developed countries (USDHHS, 2000: 33). The first epidemiological studies that linked smoking to lung cancer were performed in the 1930s (Brooks, 1952: 311-316). Using increasingly more sophisticated epidemiological research techniques, the evidence that smoking causes lung cancer mounted in the late 1940s and 1950s. The UK’s Royal College of Physicians’ report of 1962 and the US Surgeon-General’s report of 1964 were the first comprehensive medical survey reports on the detrimental impact of cigarette smoking (Royal College of Physicians, 1962 and US Department of Health, Education and Welfare, 1964). The policy impact of these reports was immense and resulted in major tobacco control interventions in many developed countries.3 Since these early studies were published, more than 50 000 articles on tobacco and health have been published in the biomedical literature (Davis, 1992:1).
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Spatial Distribution of Tobacco Pipe Fragments at the Hudson's Bay Company Fort Vancouver Village Site: Smoking As a Shared and Social Practice
    Portland State University PDXScholar Dissertations and Theses Dissertations and Theses Spring 6-20-2013 The Spatial Distribution of Tobacco Pipe Fragments at the Hudson's Bay Company Fort Vancouver Village Site: Smoking as a Shared and Social Practice Katie Ann Wynia Portland State University Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds Part of the Archaeological Anthropology Commons, and the Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Wynia, Katie Ann, "The Spatial Distribution of Tobacco Pipe Fragments at the Hudson's Bay Company Fort Vancouver Village Site: Smoking as a Shared and Social Practice" (2013). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 1085. https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.1085 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. Please contact us if we can make this document more accessible: [email protected]. The Spatial Distribution of Tobacco Pipe Fragments at the Hudson’s Bay Company Fort Vancouver Village Site: Smoking as a Shared and Social Practice by Katie Ann Wynia A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Anthropology Thesis Committee: Kenneth M. Ames, Chair Douglas C. Wilson Shelby Anderson Portland State University 2013 Abstract This thesis represents one of the first systematic, detailed spatial analyses of artifacts at the mid-19th century Hudson’s Bay Company’s Fort Vancouver Village site, and of clay tobacco pipe fragments in general.
    [Show full text]
  • And Type the TITLE of YOUR WORK in All Caps
    ADDRESSING THE TOBACCO EPIDEMIC IN LOW AND MIDDLE INCOME COUNTRIES: BEST PRACTICES THAT REDUCE THE IMPACT OF TOBACCO ADVERTISING, PROMOTION AND SPONSORSHIP By LORNA MCLEOD ENGLISH (Under the Direction of Joel Lee) ABSTRACT Tobacco use is leading cause of preventable death in the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) projects that by 2030 tobacco use will kill over 8 million people annually. Eighty percent of the world’s smokers now live in low and middle income countries (LMIC) compared to 20 percent in developed countries. A primary reason for increased smoking in these countries is the tobacco industry’s targeted and aggressive marketing of cigarettes; billions of dollars are spent annually on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship (TAPS). In 2003, the WHO negotiated the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) to prevent the death and disease associated with tobacco use. The FCTC treaty calls for countries to enact comprehensive policies that ban TAPS and inform their populations about dangers of tobacco use. The treaty is founded on proven interventions that countries can implement to protect their population from the epidemic. The objective of this research is to examine tobacco-related policies in LMIC to assess their impact on smoking behaviors. The first study reviewed the impact of TAPS exposure and anti-TAPS policies on students’ smoking behavior in African LMIC. The second study examined the impact of anti-TAPS policies and counter-tobacco messages on male smoking behavior in Thailand and Turkey. The findings suggest that there is an association between TAPS exposure and increased smoking and susceptibility in the youth studied.
    [Show full text]
  • Perceptions of Students Regarding the Effects of the Implementation of the Tobacco Control Act of 1999 on a South African University Campus
    South African Family Practice 2017; 59(1):41–45 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20786190.2016.1254930 S Afr Fam Pract ISSN 2078-6190 EISSN 2078-6204 Open Access article distributed under the terms of the © 2017 The Author(s) Creative Commons License [CC BY-NC 3.0] http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0 RESEARCH Perceptions of students regarding the effects of the implementation of the tobacco control act of 1999 on a South African University campus M.W. Khana, V. Hiraa and F. Haffejeea* a Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa *Corresponding author, emails: [email protected], [email protected] Background: Smoking among adolescents is high. In order to curb the habit, restrictions on use of tobacco products in public places were implemented in South Africa. This study aimed to explore students’ perceptions of whether the implementation of smoking restrictions and no-smoking signs have had any effects on smoking behaviours on campus. Methods: A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted amongst university students, who completed a self-administered questionnaire. Results: Students were aware that smoking causes disease and that second-hand smoke is dangerous. The majority were pleased that there was a smoking regulation in effect, but disagreed that it created a healthier atmosphere. Many would like a total ban enforced in restaurants, clubs, bars and university campuses. They felt that there were insufficient non-smoking signs in public areas. Many smokers stated that they ignored regulations and only a minority stated that the policy encouraged smokers to quit.
    [Show full text]
  • Non-Smoker's Exposure to Second-Hand Smoke in South
    International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health Article Non-Smoker’s Exposure to Second-Hand Smoke in South Africa during 2017 Senamile P. Ngobese 1, Catherine O. Egbe 1,2, Mukhethwa Londani 1 and Olalekan A. Ayo-Yusuf 3,* 1 Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Pretoria 0001, South Africa; [email protected] (S.P.N.); [email protected] (C.O.E.); [email protected] (M.L.) 2 Department of Public Health, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Pretoria 0204, South Africa 3 Africa Centre for Tobacco Industry Monitoring and Policy Research, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Pretoria 0204, South Africa * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +271-2521-4221 Received: 7 October 2020; Accepted: 31 October 2020; Published: 3 November 2020 Abstract: Current South African tobacco control law allows for 25% designated smoking areas in some indoor public places. This study investigates non-smokers’ exposure to second-hand smoke (SHS) in workplaces, homes, cafés/restaurants, and shebeens (local bars) using data from the 2017 South African Social Attitude Survey. Factors associated with any level of exposure were explored using multiple-variable-adjusted logistic regression analysis. The sample of 3063 participants (16+ years old), comprised 51.7% females and 78.5% Black Africans. The current smoking prevalence from this study was 21.5%. About 47% of non-smokers reported exposure to SHS in at least one location. Females were significantly less likely to be exposed to SHS in all locations except at home compared to males.
    [Show full text]
  • Helps Rebuild & Strengthen Your Enamel
    2ND QUARTER 2021 • VOLUME 22 NO. 2 • ISSN 1018-1466 JOURNAL OHASAOFFICIAL MOUTHPIECE OF THE ORAL HYGIENISTS’ ASSOCIATION OF SoUTH AFRICA HELPS REBUILD & STRENGTHEN YOUR ENAMEL No.1 DENTIST RECOMMENDED BRAND FOR SENSITIVE TEETH* Specialized Enamel Protection Rebuilds, Restores, Refreshes *IPSOS Expert Performance Tracking 2020 GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare South Africa (Pty) Ltd. 57 Sloane Street, Bryanston, 2021. Reg. No.: 2014/173930/07. For any further information, including safety information, please contact the GSK Hotline on +27 11 745 6001 15853 or 0800 118 274. Trademarks are owned by or licensed to GSK group of companies. Refer to carton for full use instructions. Promotion Number: PM-ZA-SENO-20-00123 15853 Pronamel Advert OHASA PRESS.indd 1 2021/01/25 16:59 NON- ABRASIVE TECHNOLOGY1 PROTECTS AGAINST FUTURE STAINS1 HELPS REMOVE 99 % OF GERMS2 MILDER TASTE CONTENTS EDITORIAL 20 Decolonising dental education: If not 2 From the Editor’s desk now, then when? Part 1 RUGSHANA CADER SIZAKELE NDWANDwe (BOH) and TASNEEM AJam (BOH) 3 From the President’s desk STELLA LAMPRECHT 24 South African tobacco smoking cessation clinical practice guideline 4 Guest Editorial RN VAN ZYL-SmIT, B ALLWOOD, D STICKELLS, BRUNA DESSENA G SYMONS, S ABDOOL-gAFFAR, K MURPHY, A VANKER, K DHEDA, GA RICHARDS RESEARCH 5 Positioning depression as a critical OHASA NEWS factor in creating a toxic workplace 32 News from the Gauteng Branch environment for diminishing worker productivity 34 UWC update SAMMA FAIZ RASOOL , RASHID MAQBOOL, MADEEHA SAMMA, YAN ZHAO,
    [Show full text]
  • American Indian Views of Smoking: Risk and Protective Factors
    Volume 1, Issue 2 (December 2010) http://www.hawaii.edu/sswork/jivsw http://hdl.handle.net/10125/12527 E-ISSN 2151-349X pp. 1-18 ‘This Tobacco Has Always Been Here for Us,’ American Indian Views of Smoking: Risk and Protective Factors Sandra L. Momper Beth Glover Reed University of Michigan University of Michigan Mary Kate Dennis University of Michigan Abstract We utilized eight talking circles to elicit American Indian views of smoking on a U.S. reservation. We report on (1) the historical context of tobacco use among Ojibwe Indians; (2) risk factors that facilitate use: peer/parental smoking, acceptability/ availability of cigarettes; (3) cessation efforts/ inhibiting factors for cessation: smoking while pregnant, smoking to reduce stress , beliefs that cessation leads to debilitating withdrawals; and (4) protective factors that inhibit smoking initiation/ use: negative health effects of smoking, parental and familial smoking behaviors, encouragement from youth to quit smoking, positive health benefits, “cold turkey” quitting, prohibition of smoking in tribal buildings/homes. Smoking is prevalent, but protective behaviors are evident and can assist in designing culturally sensitive prevention, intervention and cessation programs. Key Words American Indians • Native Americans • Indigenous • tobacco • smoking • community based research Acknowledgments We would like to say thank you (Miigwetch) to all tribal members for their willingness to share their stories and work with us, and in particular, the Research Associate and Observer (Chi-Miigwetch). This investigation was supported by the National Institutes of Health under Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award T32 DA007267 via the University of Michigan Substance Abuse Research Center (UMSARC). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH or UMSARC.
    [Show full text]
  • Sacred Smoking
    FLORIDA’SBANNER INDIAN BANNER HERITAGE BANNER TRAIL •• BANNERPALEO-INDIAN BANNER ROCK BANNER ART? • • THE BANNER IMPORTANCE BANNER OF SALT american archaeologySUMMER 2014 a quarterly publication of The Archaeological Conservancy Vol. 18 No. 2 SACRED SMOKING $3.95 $3.95 SUMMER 2014 americana quarterly publication of The Archaeological archaeology Conservancy Vol. 18 No. 2 COVER FEATURE 12 HOLY SMOKE ON BY DAVID MALAKOFF M A H Archaeologists are examining the pivitol role tobacco has played in Native American culture. HLEE AS 19 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SALT BY TAMARA STEWART , PHOTO BY BY , PHOTO M By considering ethnographic evidence, researchers EU S have arrived at a new interpretation of archaeological data from the Verde Salt Mine, which speaks of the importance of salt to Native Americans. 25 ON THE TRAIL OF FLORIDA’S INDIAN HERITAGE TION, SOUTH FLORIDA MU TION, SOUTH FLORIDA C BY SUSAN LADIKA A trip through the Tampa Bay area reveals some of Florida’s rich history. ALLANT COLLE ALLANT T 25 33 ROCK ART REVELATIONS? BY ALEXANDRA WITZE Can rock art tell us as much about the first Americans as stone tools? 38 THE HERO TWINS IN THE MIMBRES REGION BY MARC THOMPSON, PATRICIA A. GILMAN, AND KRISTINA C. WYCKOFF Researchers believe the Mimbres people of the Southwest painted images from a Mesoamerican creation story on their pottery. 44 new acquisition A PRESERVATION COLLABORATION The Conservancy joins forces with several other preservation groups to save an ancient earthwork complex. 46 new acquisition SAVING UTAH’S PAST The Conservancy obtains two preserves in southern Utah. 48 point acquisition A TIME OF CONFLICT The Parkin phase of the Mississippian period was marked by warfare.
    [Show full text]
  • Official Report Will Confirm Tomorrow— Support
    MEETING OF THE PARLIAMENT Thursday 30 June 2005 Session 2 £5.00 Parliamentary copyright. Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body 2005. Applications for reproduction should be made in writing to the Licensing Division, Her Majesty‘s Stationery Office, St Clements House, 2-16 Colegate, Norwich NR3 1BQ Fax 01603 723000, which is administering the copyright on behalf of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. Produced and published in Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body by Astron. CONTENTS Thursday 30 June 2005 Debates Col. BUSINESS MOTION ........................................................................................................................................ 18571 Motion moved—[George Lyon]—and agreed to. George Lyon (Argyll and Bute) (LD) ........................................................................................................ 18571 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (CROSS-CUTTING EXPENDITURE REVIEW) ............................................................. 18572 Motion moved—[Des McNulty]. Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab) ....................................................................................... 18572 Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP) ............................................................................................. 18576 Mr Ted Brocklebank (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con) ................................................................................ 18578 Mr Andrew Arbuckle (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD) .................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • World Bank Document
    Public Disclosure Authorized Poverty & Equity Global Practice Working Paper 146 LONG-RUN IMPACTS OF INCREASING TOBACCO Public Disclosure Authorized TAXES EVIDENCE FROM SOUTH AFRICA Public Disclosure Authorized Alan Fuchs Giselle Del Carmen Alfred Kechia Mukong Public Disclosure Authorized March 2018 Poverty & Equity Global Practice Working Paper 146 ABSTRACT Tobacco taxes are considered an effective policy tool to reduce tobacco consumption and produce long-run benefits that outweigh the costs associated with a price increase. Through this policy, some of the most adverse effects and economic costs of smoking can be reduced, including shorter life expectancy, higher medical expenses, added years of disability among smokers, and the effects of secondhand smoke. Nonetheless, tobacco taxes are often considered regressive because low-income households tend to allocate a larger share of their budgets to purchasing tobacco products. This paper uses an extended cost-benefit analysis to estimate the distributional effect of tobacco taxes on household welfare in South Africa. The analysis considers the effect on household income through an increase in tobacco prices, changes in medical expenses, and the prolongation of working years. The results indicate that a rise in tobacco prices initially generates negative income variations across all groups in the population. If benefits through lower medical expenses and an expansion in working years are considered, the negative effect is reduced, particularly in medium- and upper- bound elasticities. Consequently, the aggregate net effect is progressive and benefits the bottom deciles more than the richer ones. Overall, tobacco tax increases exert a small, but positive effect in the presence of low conditional tobacco price elasticity.
    [Show full text]
  • Human Rights Violations and Smoking Status Among South African Adults Enrolled in the South Africa Stress and Health (SASH) Study
    Social Science & Medicine 105 (2014) 103e111 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Social Science & Medicine journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/socscimed Human rights violations and smoking status among South African adults enrolled in the South Africa Stress and Health (SASH) study Lauren M. Dutra a,b,*, David R. Williams a, Jhumka Gupta c, Ichiro Kawachi a, Cassandra A. Okechukwu a a Harvard University, USA b University of California San Francisco, USA c Yale University, USA article info abstract Article history: Despite South Africa’s history of violent political conflict, and the link between stressful experiences and Available online 22 January 2014 smoking in the literature, no public health study has examined South Africans’ experiences of human rights violations and smoking. Using data from participants in the nationally representative cross- Keywords: sectional South Africa Stress and Health study (SASH), this analysis examined the association between South Africa respondent smoking status and both human rights violations experienced by the respondent and vio- Human rights lations experienced by the respondents’ close friends and family members. SAS-Callable SUDAAN was Trauma used to construct separate log-binomial models by political affiliation during apartheid (government or Smoking Cigarettes liberation supporters). In comparison to those who reported no violations, in adjusted analyses, gov- ernment supporters who reported violations of themselves but not others (RR ¼ 1.76, 95% CI: 1.25e2.46) had a significantly higher smoking prevalence. In comparison to liberation supporters who reported no violations, those who reported violations of self only (RR ¼ 1.56, 95%CI: 1.07e2.29), close others only (RR ¼ 1.97, 95%CI: 1.12e3.47), or violations of self and close others due to close others’ political beliefs and the respondent’s political beliefs (RR ¼ 2.86, 95%CI: 1.70e4.82) had a significantly higher prevalence of smoking.
    [Show full text]
  • The Politics of Smoke-Free Policies in Developing Countries: Lessons from Africa
    The Politics of Smoke-free Policies in Developing Countries: Lessons from Africa Jeffrey M. Drope, Ph.D. Marquette University Contact: Department of Political Science Box 1881, Marquette University Wehr Physics Bldg. #409 Milwaukee, WI 53201-1881 USA Tel: 414-288-6840 & Fax: 414-288-3360 Email: [email protected] Abstract The public health rewards of smoke-free policies are well documented. But in their enthusiasm to achieve such policies, public health advocates and policy makers frequently underestimate the political complexity of passing laws, and then implementing and enforcing them. Using 12 African countries as the focus of discussion, this research examines the basic political process for and the barriers to achieving smoke-free policies. Moreover, in addition to the obstacles, it examines why some countries have been experiencing comparatively more success in the smoke-free policy area. The findings of the research suggest strongly that the presence of a vigorous tobacco control civil society movement, some will on the part of government institutions, and active research support contribute significantly to successful smoke-free policies. It is also apparent that the emerging battle fronts in smoke-free policies are in the areas of implementation and enforcement, and while similar variables that affect the passing of new laws also condition these outcomes, there are the added distinct challenges of policy fatigue and additional resource constraints. Keywords: tobacco control; smoke-free policies; Africa; civil society; public health; policy reform Acknowledgements: The author thanks the International Development Research Centre (with funds from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) for research support; Dr. Kingsley K.
    [Show full text]
  • Tobacco Regulation in South Africa: Interest Groups and Public Policy
    African Journal of Political Science and International Relations Vol. 3 (3), pp. 99-106, March 2009 Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/AJPSIR ISSN 1996-0832 © 2009 Academic Journals Review Tobacco regulation in South Africa: Interest groups and public policy Bossman E. Asare Graceland University, Lamoni, IA 50140, Iowa, USA. E-mail: [email protected]. Accepted 15 January, 2009 The article examines the role of interest groups in the adoption of comprehensive tobacco control policies in South Africa. While various studies have noted that interest groups shape and influence public policies especially in advanced industrialized polities, this study looks at the impact of tobacco control groups in regulating tobacco use in a developing, middle-income country, South Africa. Using interviews of leading experts on tobacco control from South Africa and tobacco control policy documents, the study finds that since the last decade or so, the lobbying and campaigns of anti- tobacco interest groups have led to the adoption of more restrictive policies. Key words: Tobacco control, interest groups, anti-tobacco groups, South Africa. INTRODUCTION Tobacco consumption is the greatest cause of preven- 1990s, tobacco-related deaths were estimated to be eight table deaths in dozens of countries, and it is linked to percent of total deaths in the country (Sitas et al., 1994). premature deaths of millions of people annually (Taylor, Modern attempts at tobacco control began to receive 1985; Nadelman, 1990; Glantz et al., 1996). Until recently traction with the publications of a number of reports link- the use of tobacco products was considered a major pub- ing cigarette smoking to certain diseases in the 1950s lic health concern in advanced industrialized polities, par- and 1960s (Doll and Hill, 1950; Royal College of Physi- ticularly in North America and Western Europe.
    [Show full text]