Monitoring of tobacco advertising and promotion in Lagos, Nigeria: observational assessment to inform proposed regulations to the National Tobacco Control Act

Abstract

Background In 2015, Nigeria approved the National Tobacco Control Act, banning tobacco advertising and promotion with the exception of advertising to “consenting” adults, which was not defined in the law. As of July 2017, implementing Regulations have not been issued by the Ministry of Health. The objective of this study was to assess the level of tobacco advertising and promotion in public places before implementation of the law. Methods In June 2017, monitoring was conducted in five Local Government Areas in Lagos, Nigeria: Kosofe, Surulere, Ikeja, Agege, and Apapa. Data was collected from a convenience sample (n=250) of public places, some of which sold tobacco products. Public places were categorized into 9 types: kiosks, roadside tobacco sellers, bars, convenience stores/lock up shops, hawker & mobile shops, supermarkets, motor parks/tricycle garages, open markets and other. An observational checklist was used to collect data on indoor and outdoor forms of tobacco advertising and promotion. Results Among all public places visited, 64% sold tobacco including cigarettes, cigars, shisha and smokeless tobacco. All of the public places had some form of tobacco advertising or promotion located inside or outside. The most frequent forms of advertising or promotion were: display of tobacco products (n=101), physical structures such as umbrellas (n=80), poster/signage (n=38), mix of one or more forms (n=27), stickers (n=2) and free gifts (n=2). Almost all forms of advertising and promotion were for cigarettes. Conclusions As the provisions are developed for the proposed Regulations of the National Tobacco Control Act, Nigerian authorities should consider closing existing loopholes in the law following recommendations of Article 13 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. This includes banning the display of all tobacco products and any other form of tobacco advertising and promotion at tobacco retailers and all other public places.

Keywords

• WCTOH