Read articles from South Africa

November 08, 2024 by clearingtheair.eu

Kurt Yeo founded Vaping Saved My Life in 2017 to share ex-smokers' success stories in South Africa. He switched to vaping after a 20-year smoking habit and losing his father to smoking-related issues. Despite facing misinformation, he persisted in helping others quit smoking through vaping. The vaping community in South Africa began to develop after products were imported from Europe and the US. Kurt's advocacy work expanded through the testimonial portal, which now has 720 testimonials. He highlights the lack of organized cessation help in South Africa and emphasizes the need to support smokers wanting to quit.

July 11, 2024 by tobaccoreporter.com

Prioritizing evidence-based harm reduction strategies for smoking can enhance healthcare by reducing health risks and offering safer alternatives. These strategies, proven effective in addressing drug use and HIV, can also benefit tobacco users. With over a billion smokers worldwide, South Africa faces significant health and economic consequences due to smoking. Harm reduction tools like nicotine-replacement products and noncombustible alternatives show promise in saving lives. While encouraging smoking cessation is ideal, harm reduction strategies cater to those who struggle to quit. Despite opposition, focusing on harm reduction in public health education and healthcare delivery is crucial for promoting healthier behaviors like smoking cessation.

July 11, 2024 by tobaccoreporter.com

Prioritizing evidence-based harm reduction strategies for smoking can enhance healthcare by reducing health risks and offering safer alternatives. These strategies, proven effective in addressing drug use and HIV, can also benefit tobacco users. With over a billion smokers worldwide, South Africa faces significant health and economic consequences due to smoking. Harm reduction tools like nicotine-replacement products and noncombustible alternatives show promise in saving lives. While encouraging smoking cessation is ideal, harm reduction strategies cater to those who struggle to quit. Despite opposition, focusing on harm reduction in public health education and healthcare delivery is crucial for promoting healthier behaviors like smoking cessation.

June 17, 2024 by witness.co.za

The prevalence of tobacco use in South Africa remains a leading cause of preventable deaths, the global adult tobacco survey (Gats) 2021 has found. The implementation of Gats in 2021 became South Africa’s first attempt to collect detailed data about tobacco use in the adult population. Tobacco use remains a leading cause of preventable deaths, morbidity and impoverishment globally and in South Africa.System could not access the page, the text article must be completed manually

February 01, 2024 by filtermag.org

Dr. Kgosi Letlape has been a passionate and relentless activist on the side of “the underdog,” as he puts it, for most of his life. An ophthalmologist in South Africa, Letlape is the former chairman of the South African Medical Association and a co-founder of the Africa Harm Reduction Alliance. In our filmed interview, he told Filter how South Africa’s devastating HIV epidemic has profoundly changed him, shifting him from “not just activism of talking, but of action and making things happen.”

January 08, 2024 by businesstech.co.za

South Africa needs to strike a balance between the perspectives of both economists and health experts as to how tax rates should be determined for nicotine products, says Marius van Oordt, an expert in indirect taxation in developing countries. Over the past several years, the world has seen an evolution of tobacco and nicotine products, particularly evident in electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS or e-cigarettes). To accommodate such a change, experts have been presenting contrasting views.

December 04, 2023 by businesstech.co.za

Gauteng residents are divided on the hotly contested draft Control of Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Bill, with businesses warning that implementing the new laws will have negative consequences for the country’s township economy. The Portfolio Committee on Health recently held three public hearings over the Bill in Gauteng, and much like the public engagement in Limpopo, the North West, and Mpumulanga, there was support and rejection of the Bill. The Bill broadly aims to introduce the following:

• Declare indoor public places and certain outdoor areas 100% smoke-free.
• Ban the sale of cigarettes through vending machines. [...]

September 19, 2023 by businesstech.co.za

The Portfolio Committee on Health has conducted more public hearings on the new Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill, with participants expressing mixed views. The new Bill has been met with both support and vehement opposition, depending on the clauses being focused on. Broadly, the bill aims to introduce the following:

• Indoor public places and certain outdoor areas will be determined to be 100% smoke-free.
• Ban the sale of cigarettes through vending machines.
• Plain packaging with graphic health warnings and pictorials.
• Ban on display at point-of-sale; and
• The regulation and control of electronic nicotine delivery systems and non-nicotine delivery systems.

September 05, 2023 by clivebates.com

South Africa’s parliament is scrutinising new tobacco and nicotine legislation that would throttle harm reduction approaches for its citizens. South Africa has a high prevalence of smoking (25.8% – see chart), especially among men, and low rates of vape use (2.2%). Yet the legislation is designed to obstruct South African citizens from switching from high-risk cigarettes to low-risk vape products. Why is there such hostility to a strategy that could work especially well in South Africa? Harm reduction relies on consumers and producers acting in their own interests and at their own expense to radically reduce disease risks and improve their welfare and wellbeing. [...]

September 01, 2023 by biomedcentral.com

Electronic cigarette use has surged internationally in recent years, with numerous countries noting an uptick in users. Despite this, the portrayal of e-cigarette usage in African news remains unclear. This research investigates the subject, employing a mixed-methodology approach. The study units were news articles on electronic cigarette use retrieved from AllAfrica, an online African news archive. [...]