SA’s new NCD strategy-prevention and control of tobacco

24 out of 29% of all NCD deaths can be linked to smoking. These deaths can be broken down into;11% Cardiovascular disease, 7%, Cancer, 3% respiratory disease and 3% diabetes.

According to the South Africa’s new Non Communicable Disease strategy, the World Health Organisation’s, 2008 mortality chart showed that smoking put citizens at risk of most of the NCD’s.

Moreover, tobacco use accounted for 9% of all deaths. 2003 data showed men between the ages of 35 and 54 and women between 35 and 54 use tobacco more than their younger or older counterparts. Additionally, men smoked more than women. In 2009, statistics showed 23.7% of adults smoked cigarettes.

Although, statistics showed a 7% decrease of cigarette smokers from 1995 to 2009, recent research suggested otherwise. Many attributed the decrease in smoking to the introduction of anti-tobacco legislation in 2005. The legislation is also tied to a 22% reduction in smoking behaviour.

However, research done in 2013, by Prof Olalekan Ayo-Yusuf and Bukola Olutola implied the increase in the excise tax on factory cigarettes were linked to the decrease in smoking. Their study suggested that smokers who shifted from factory rolled cigarettes to roll-your-own as a less expensive choice had not been considered. Their studies showed from 2007 and 2010 factory cigarette smoking declined 'at an aggregate' and roll-your-own smoking increased.

Cost-effective interventions for addressing tobacco use was explored. The cost of implementing tobacco interventions was less than 1 U.S dollar per person. Raising taxes on tobacco products had the largest impact while packaging, labelling and awareness counter measures, showed modest impacts. Other interventions like enforcing bans on tobacco advertising  and working on smoke free workplaces had ‘best buy’ implications but had modest impact.

Moreover, cost-effective interventions to address diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and respiratory disorders that were linked to smoking were identified, and assigned interventions as well.

Furthermore, population and community based interventions included controlling the use of tobacco and tobacco products.

The NCD 2013-2017 strategic plan said finance, trade and industry department’s, South African Revenue Service, civil society and non governmental organisations will carry out the interventions. These interventions included enforcing existing legislation, strengthening compliance of legislation, finalising regulations on smoke free public places, display of tobacco products at point of sale, pictorial messages, warnings on packages and intensifying education and support for quitting smoking.

According to the strategy, ‘the tobacco control legislation strongly influenced a decline in smoking prevalence between 1993 and 2008’. Recent years have experienced a plateau in smoking prevalence thus tobacco policies were being re-evaluated.

With the MPOWER package, the new NCD strategy built on the WHO’s Framework Convention for Tobacco Control measures. The MPOWER package included cost-effective policy intervention.  The package consisted of monitoring tobacco use and tobacco prevention policies, protecting people from tobacco smoke in public places and workplaces, offering help to people who want to stop using tobacco, warning people about the dangers of tobacco, enforcing bans on tobacco advertising promotion and sponsorship and raising tobacco taxes and prices.

Meanwhile, the Department of Health's action plan is to reduce tobacco use by 20% by 2020, to finalise regulations on display at point of sale’s in retail stores, smoke free public areas and pictorial health messaging and warnings on packages. Lastly, they want to reach a target of reduction in smoking of 5% by 2015 and a reduction of 10% by 2017.