The popularization of GATS - Cameroon: the Cameroon Coalition to Counter Tobacco on all fronts

With the aim of popularizing the results of the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS), the Cameroon Coalition to Counter Tobacco is implementing an intensive communication campaign.

GATS, this word spilled much ink and saliva in Cameroon. Indeed, this is the center of discussion within media programs, educative and professional encounters...

Fruits of the informative campaign implemented by the C3T, this multiple subject on the GATS have as objective to inform policy makers and the population on the current situation of the tobacco epidemic in Cameroon, so that adequate measures are taken to ensure quality tobacco control in Cameroon

Direct Communication

Also with the aim of ameliorating the perceptions and comprehension of this survey, a multisectoral meeting on this results was presided by the Ministry of public health. Information workshops on the GATS results were organized to attract the interest of civil society organizations and journalists. Press coffee workshops organized by the C3T, gave an advantage to the press towards the better use of the results related to tobacco use in Cameroon. Communications on GATS Cameroon were equally published in the press and social media.

Mass communication

These actions led to the regular treatment of the GATS topic in media. Also, within the period from June to September 2015, about ten corresponding’s were made on this subject.Cameroon-tribune (le quotidian pro-governmental) they even dedicated one of their editorials. Talk-shows were equally made on this subject.

This was the case of "Monday show" and "Hello" on Crtv (pro-governmental television), the "NewsRoom" and the "Et si on repassait l'actu"   on Afrik2 radio (the most listened radio in Yaoundé), the "Health Talk" on (Radio specialized in health issues),"Un jour, Un évènement" on Canal2 International( The most watched channel in Cameroon). During their passage in this different media programs, the communication of C3T was focused on the results of GATS, tobacco control in Cameroon is a necessary path for the adoption of a strong tobacco legislation.

Internet

In the sky, the GATS results in Cameroon occupy a significant position. Articles are regularly produced on GATS, tobacco control in Cameroon and the anti-tobacco law. This has been the main topic with numerous posts on Facebook and Twitter. We are offering a selection of some links of articles on subjects like:

·         La Coalition camerounaise contre le tabac lance son plaidoyer pour l’adoption d’une loi anti-tabac

·         Cameroonian Anti-Tobacco Coalition demands implementation of Anti-Tobacco law

·         Tabagisme: ces statistiques que la société civile veut voir baisser

·         L’industrie du tabac au Cameroun capte des revenus équivalents en moyenne à 8,9% du PIB mensuel par habitant

·         Cameroon’s tobacco industry rakes in revenue amounting to 8.9% of the monthly per capita GDP

·         Tabagisme: des Camerounais de plus en plus dépendants 

·         Tabac : urgence sanitaire, des lois plus sévères s’imposent

GATS in brief

Realized in 2013 by the ministry of public health in collaboration with the National Institute of Statistics, at the end obtaining factual data on tobacco use, GATS is the first global survey on tobacco use amongst Cameroonian adults. The results of this survey reveals that:

Ü  1 100 000 million adults are tobacco users;

Ü  19,2% of adults are exposed to tobacco smoke at work ;

Ü  22,9% of adults who took public transport are exposed to tobacco smoke ;

Ü  80, 4% of adults are in favor of the prohibition of smoking inside confined public places.

The magnitude of these numbers shows sufficiently the urgency with which to ameliorate tobacco control, and the adoption of a strong tobacco control law in accordance to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in Cameroon.