In 2011, tobacco use prevalence in Africa was about 22% among those aged 15 years and older. The African continent has the lowest prevalence of smoking compared to other regions, but the highest risk of increased smoking rates by 2025. WHO advised researchers and the media to be cautious about spreading unsubstantiated information regarding COVID-19, tobacco, and nicotine, a likely warning against tobacco industry misinformation. In response to these findings, the tobacco industry launched various misinformation campaigns, especially through social media, to influence public opinion on tobacco usage and its correlation to COVID-19 infection including promoting the idea that nicotine could be protective against COVID-19 infection. In June 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a statement on tobacco use and COVID-19 affirming the link between tobacco smoking and COVID-19 disease severity and urged smokers to quit to decrease their chances of severe infection. While the relationship between tobacco use and COVID-19 infection remains debated, tobacco use has been identified as a risk factor for COVID-19 disease severity among those with the disease, including higher chances of hospitalization, ICU admissions, and death. Increased hospitalization has been concerning for overwhelmed healthcare systems in countries strained by COVID-19. Worldwide the healthcare burden of COVID-19 has been immense, with over 480 million confirmed cases, over 6 million deaths, and over 11 billion vaccine doses administered globally, as of March 2022.
Engagement with the media should be enhanced as part of health promotion strategies.ĬOVID-19 is an infectious respiratory disease spread through contaminated droplets.
The media could serve as a veritable tool to promote public health if engaged in productive ways to communicate and promote public health regulations to the general population. Litigation against the ban’s legality was a strategy used by the tobacco industry to mobilize the public against the ban while promoting their business through the distribution of branded masks and door-to-door delivery which goes against current tobacco regulations. Anti-sales ban arguments included the adverse effect of nicotine withdrawal symptoms on smokers, loss of jobs and the expansion of the illicit cigarette markets. Pro-sales ban arguments included the importance of protecting the health system from collapse due to rising COVID-19 hospitalization, benefit of cessation, and the need for non-smokers to be protected from exposure to secondhand smoke. Early findings of a link between tobacco smoking and COVID-19 disease severity led to an extension of the ban to protect South Africa’s fragile health system. The initial reason for placing the ban was due to the non-classification of tobacco products as an essential item.
#SOUTH AFRICA LOCKDOWN PRO#
Six major themes were identified in the data: challenges associated with implementing the ban, litigation, and threats of litigation to remove the ban, governance process and politicization of the ban, pro and anti-tobacco sales ban activities and arguments and reactions to the announcement lifting the ban. We analysed a total of 305 articles relevant to the South African tobacco sales ban during the lockdown. Thematic analysis of data was conducted with the aid of NVivo. Data were sourced via google search and snowball identification of relevant articles. We collected media articles published between 26 March to 17 August 2020, which corresponded to the period of the sales ban. This study explored news media coverage of arguments and activities in relation to the South African lockdown tobacco sales ban. The South African government imposed one of the strictest lockdowns in the world as part of measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the country, including a ban on the sale of tobacco products.
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