Tanzania Tobacco Control Forum (TTCF) is an alliance of NGOs, Associations and individuals in Tanzania, whose mission is to enhance public health through effective control and stopping of tobacco use.

UICC awarded TTCF a Capacity Building Workshop Grant worth $10,000 to implement a project titled “Advocacy campaigns to Tanzania’s politicians and the community at large to enhance passage and adoption of FCTC compliant tobacco control legislation”. The main objective of the project is to enhance passage of an FCTC compliant legislation by end of 2011.

Tanzania has the Tobacco Products (Regulation) Act, 2003 (TPRA, 2003), that is not FCTC compliant. The tobacco industry has taken advantage of the existing loopholes in the law to continue its advertising, promotion and sponsorship activities. These activities are responsible for the escalating smoking prevalence particularly among the youth. Efforts have also been made, to hook highly placed pro-tobacco government officials and MPs so as to delay the process of enacting a new law. The industry activities have been intensified lately, to counter the anti-tobacco campaigns mounted by TTCF and partners.

Tanzania ratified the FCTC in April 2007 and it was hoped that by February 2010, a revised law would have been in place; to-date the bill is yet to be tabled in Parliament.

The Workshop Grant will enable TTCF to collect further evidence based information to reveal the truth and negate industry claims about the importance of tobacco in Tanzania. Campaigns will also be carried out to educate and sensitise MPs and other decision makers, the media and the public at large on the need for effective tobacco control legislation.

An effective tobacco control law will help to arrest the escalating smoking prevalence and hence reduce the cancer burden. Thirty two percent of all cancers at Ocean Road Cancer Institute are attributed to tobacco use costing the government more than $30m annually.

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