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From an academic perspective, the focus should be on monitoring the new legislative environment and measuring its impact on tobacco consumption. In view of the fact that South Africa is one of a limited number of developing countries that has implemented a comprehensive tobacco control strategy, the South African experience should serve as a useful role model to other developing countries. In 1998, when the tobacco control bill was debated in South Africa, the tobacco industry forecasted that the legislation would have disastrous consequences, not just on the tobacco industry, but on the economy as a whole. Now that the legislation has been passed and implemented, it gives one the opportunity to confront these forecasts with the facts in an objective and academically responsible way. Should these forecasts prove to be exaggerated, it would enable other countries' lobbyists to argue that the industry's arguments against stronger tobacco control measures are self-serving and untrue. South Africa is one of a limited number of developing countries that has implemented a comprehensive tobacco control strategy. Before 1990 tobacco control was a foreign concept in South Africa. However, one decade later the country boasts with comprehensive tobacco control legislation: all tobacco advertising and sponsorship is banned, the sale of tobacco products to minors is prohibited, and clean indoor air policies are mandatory in all public and work places. Rapid increases in the excise tax have dramatically increased the retail price of cigarettes, which has discouraged smoking further. Since the early 1990s, total cigarette consumption has decreased by approximately 30 per cent. In the same period, real government revenue from cigarette excise taxes doubled, despite the decrease in consumption. A number of factors worked together to ensure the success of South Africa's tobacco control strategy: (1) effective lobbying by members of the medical profession and tobacco control advocates, (2) a strong Minister of Health who was prepared to challenge the vested interests of the tobacco and related industries, and (3) policy-relevant academic research about the likely economic impact of the intended tobacco control measures. This research effectively destroyed the industry's argument that the intended measures would have detrimental consequences for the macro-economy.With the legislation in place, the policy challenge is to enforce the regulations. Anecdotal evidence suggests that there is a high degree of compliance, even though there are still pockets of non-compliance. From a research perspective, the challenge is to monitor the relative effectiveness of the various policy interventions, and to investigate possible side effects. Many developing countries can learn from South
Africa's tobacco control experience. Because of large development differences
between developing countries and developed North American or European
countries, developing countries may argue that First World tobacco controls
may not apply to them. Given that South Africa is a typical developing
country, its tobacco control experience should have direct relevance to
other developing countries. One of the research aims should be to investigate
the lessons learnt from the South African experience and to disseminate
these as widely as possible. |
