A report from the Economist Intelligence Unit
Jump to full article: The Economist Intelligence Unit (uk), 2009-10-01
Intro: Tomorrow’s regular customers? Stamping out tobacco use in the Middle East and Africa is a research
paper written by the Economist Intelligence Unit and sponsored by Pfizer. . . .
The
findings are based on more than 40 interviews with experts from government, academia, NGOs and
the tobacco industry in the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere. We would like to thank the Economist
Intelligence Unit’s extensive network of country analysts for organising and conducting most of these
interviews. . . .
This report focuses on one portion of the developing world—the Middle East and Africa (MEA)—
which has become a key battleground in the struggle over government policy and public attitudes.
Although the region can lay claim to adult smoking rates mostly on par or lower than those of many
Western and developing nations, expanding populations mean that even if rates were to stay relatively
steady, the absolute numbers of smokers would still rise.
The MEA region also poses other deeply entrenched challenges. These include rising youth smoking
rates, particularly among girls, a prevailing culture of acceptance around tobacco, especially the water
pipe, widespread governmental ambivalence and a strong tobacco industry lobby. But charities and
other non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have gained a foothold in recent years. They often work
on a shoestring, but are increasingly supported with much-needed financial lifelines from rich Western
philanthropists.
“There is a change in mentality in our region. Ministries of health are working with the WHO and
other NGOs—bringing together all the people working on tobacco control,” says Dr Jean-Pierre
Baptiste, a regional adviser with the WHO’s Tobacco Free Initiative in Algeria. He is one of more than 40
experts from government, academia, NGOs and the tobacco industry interviewed for this report.
But are their efforts enough? In this paper, we investigate the progress that has been made, the
challenges that remain, what lessons can be drawn from successful policies elsewhere and how the
landscape could look in a decade or two. We examine ten major markets in-depth—four in North Africa:
Egypt, Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia; two in Sub-Saharan Africa: Nigeria and South Africa; and four in
the Middle East: Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The key findings
of the report are highlighted below.
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