Survey: Almost 30% of South Africans still using tobacco products

Cape Town - South Africa has a huge burden of tobacco use with about 12.7 million adults, almost 30% of the population, still using tobacco products despite being aware of the dangers of its use and exposure.

This is according to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) undertaken by the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) on behalf of the National Department of Health (NDoH), released on World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) on Tuesday.

Implemented for the first time in South Africa in 2021, the GATS, a component of the Global Tobacco Surveillance System (GTSS), provides a global standard for systematically monitoring adult tobacco use and tracking key tobacco control indicators.

It is a nationally representative household survey that monitors tobacco use among adults aged 15 years and older, using a standard protocol. The survey’s primary focus was to investigate the extent of the burden of tobacco use in the country, and on exposure to second hand smoke among South Africans.

Key findings from the GATS show that South Africa has a huge burden of tobacco use, exposure to second-hand smoke, and a significant amount of money is being spent on manufactured cigarettes in a country with high levels of poverty.

The survey shows that 29.4% (12.7 million adults) - 41.7% of men, and 17.9% of women - currently use tobacco products.

About 25.8% (11.1 million adults) - 41.2% of men, and 11.5% of women - currently smoke tobacco while 18% of adults (7.7 million adults) said they were exposed to tobacco smoke inside their homes.

The median monthly expenditure on cigarettes was R263.1.

According to lead investigator and specialist scientist within the SAMRC’s Alcohol Tobacco and Other Drug Research Unit, Dr Catherine Egbe, some positives were garnered from the findings as the survey showed that at least two-thirds of current smokers planned to or were thinking of quitting smoking.

“This finding suggests that most South Africans who use tobacco are open to cessation interventions and underscores the need for government to provide support for the use of evidence-based cessation aids,” she said.

Egbe added that the survey results emphasized that 9 out of 10 people believe that smoking or breathing in other people’s smoke causes serious illness, suggesting that South Africans are aware of the dangers of tobacco use and exposure.

Dr Lynn Moeng-Mahlangu, Chief Director: Health Promotion, Nutrition and Oral Health at NDoH said that the implementation and completion of the first GATS-SA was momentous.

“As a monitoring tool, GATS is conducted repeatedly over time to continuously provide up-to-date information on the trends of the tobacco epidemic in implementing countries.

“Similarly, South Africa hopes to engage in repeated surveillance to ensure continuous availability of data to aid in the design, implementation, and evaluation of tobacco control programs in the country,” she said.

Cape Times