Overview

Tobacco use—the most common cause of preventable deaths worldwide—is rising in Africa, especially among young girls and other vulnerable groups. Tobacco-related deaths are projected to double in Africa between 2002 and 2030. Despite the promising momentum in adopting domestic policies for controlling tobacco in the sub-Saharan Africa region, the actual implementation of these policies lags behind, causing discrepancies between policy development and effective execution and hindering the region’s ability to address the growing challenges posed by tobacco use and safeguard public health.

In partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, MSH’s Tobacco Policy Action Fund for Africa (TOPAFA) project applies an innovative approach to support eligible governments in sub-Saharan African countries, which are signatories to the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. We provide funding and technical assistance to advance their national tobacco control priorities and implement best practice tobacco control policies through results-based grants and peer-to-peer learning. These efforts are also supported by our collaboration with WHO, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, and Africa Capacity Building Foundation.

TOPAFA’s innovative approach supports African governments in reducing the rates of tobacco use, improving public health, and saving millions of lives. As of 2023, data shows that:

• There has been a significant increase in public spaces complying with smoke-free laws in Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, and Uganda (2,500 total post-support to government)
• In The Gambia, the percentage of tobacco products that complied with graphic health warning label requirements increased by 55% post-support to the government
• Domestic and cross-border tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship were reduced by 3.5% post-support to the Government of Ethiopia