New TCRG research on tobacco industry tactics in South Africa

02 May 2025, at 10:59.

A new paper from the Tobacco Control Research Group explores how the tobacco industry has actively interfered with South Africa’s tobacco control efforts, targeting the 2018 draft tobacco control bill — which still hasn’t been adopted.

Drawing on 20 in-depth interviews with public officials, advocates, researchers, journalists, and industry representatives, as well as public records, the study details how the tobacco industry mobilised opposition to the bill.

This research builds on earlier TCRG work around the bill and tobacco taxation debates, and outlines a broad array of tactics used by the industry, all aimed at delaying or derailing regulation.

Co-author Dr Adam Bertscher notes:

It is well known that the tobacco industry goes to great lengths to oppose regulations that threaten its profits. This paper demonstrates how, in South Africa, the industry sought to exploit the inherent complexity of tobacco control policy to derail discussions, tailoring its approach to the country’s specific historical and socio-economic context to increase its resonance with policymakers and the public.

Read the paper:

Unpacking complexities surrounding tobacco control policy formulation and tobacco industry interference in South Africa: A qualitative study. M. Zatoński, A. Bertscher, A. Gallagher, B. Matthes, Health Policy and Planning, Published Online First: 4 March 2025, doi: 10.1093/heapol/czaf013/8113264