A new report published by the World Health Organisation (WHO) has revealed the top African countries in tobacco use.
According to WHO, as of the end of 2022, the top African countries in tobacco use included South Africa with 8.4 million users, Algeria with 6.7 million, the Democratic Republic of Congo (5.7 million), Madagascar (4.6 million), Nigeria (3.5 million), Ethiopia (3.4 million) and Kenya with 3.1 million tobacco users. In the East African region, Kenya led the pack trailed by Tanzania at 2.7 million users while Uganda had 1.3 million.
Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Cape Verde, Eswatini and Guinea-Bissau had the least number of users on the continent at 10,000, 17,000, 45,000, 67,000, and 91,000 respectively.
WHO notes that for adolescents aged between 13 and 15 in Africa, the average prevalence rate for tobacco smoking is six percent and two percent for boys and girls respectively.
On the global scene, the largest numbers came from the world’s most populated countries led by China with 292.5 million tobacco users, India (251.4 million), Indonesia (78.7 million) as well as the US (63.2 million).
On prevalence trends, Kenya dropped from a high of 15.5 in the year 2000 to a low of 9.7 as of 2020, with WHO projecting a further drop to 8.6 by next year and a low of 7.7 by 2030.
Kenya is on track to achieve a 15-year relative reduction in tobacco use of up to 30 percent by next year, according to WHO.
“The downward trend in tobacco use currently seen at the global level is encouraging and reflects the efforts being made in many countries to implement tobacco control measures,” states WHO in the report.
-Business Daily
