“The Tobacco and Data Journalism Training is premised on the need for more robust and educative reports on tobacco control in the media,” the Executive Director of Renevlyn Development Initiative (RDI), Philip Jakpor, stated in his address to welcome newsmen to a virtual Tobacco and Data Journalism Training.
The webinar drew experts from across the world as resource persons, including Vanessa Offiong, a media strategist, who delivered a paper on ‘Using Data to Make Tobacco Stories Relevant’ and Austine Iraoya of International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), who treated ‘Reporting Tobacco Taxation’.
Executive Director, Vision for Alternative Development (VALD), Ghana, Labram Musah, discussed ‘SDGs as a Vital Data Source for Tobacco Control’, while Seember Ali of Development Gateway presented Gateway Development’s Tobacco Control Data Initiative (TCDI) launched in 2019.
For too long, according to Jakpor, reports on this subject in the indigenous media have been limited to statistics about tobacco-induced deaths from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and scanty national data. He noted other interlinking issues from which researchers could also obtain un-reported or under-reported data.
He said: “We must not forget that policy makers rely on what they read, hear or watch to be able to make laws that are rooted in facts. The task of ensuring that the right information gets to them is shouldered by the media.
“It is for this reason that we have linked up with our partners, who are experts in the public health sector, to speak with us today and give us pointers to areas of tobacco control, where credible data can be found, as well as trusted platforms that we can obtain data from and reference to enrich our reports.”
In her presentation, Offiong said data adds credibility and strength to a story, stressing that humanising data makes it stronger and more relatable.
She recalled a story from World Health Organisation (WHO), in July last year, that “tobacco kills up to half of its users who don’t quit” and “more than eight million people each year, including an estimated 1.3 million non-smokers, who are exposed to second-hand smoke.”
According to Musah of VALD, the tobacco use epidemic remains a serious public health menace with a significant impact on global health and development. He said Africa habours more than 77 million adult smokers of the 1.3 billion smokers in developing countries.
Reducing tobacco use, he asserted, is critical to achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In Reporting Tobacco Taxation, Iraoya explained how data generated tobacco taxation could be goldmine for compelling stories.
TCDI has reportedly conducted additional primary research to fill data gaps, including shisha in Nigeria and e-cigarette in South Africa.
Seember Ali of Development Gateway added: “Going forward, the team will continue to incorporate new features and new research into the country websites. Beginning in November 2023, the TCDI programme will transition the maintenance and updating of the TCDI sites to a long-term sustainability partner. This arrangement will ensure continuity and updated information for the sites and continue through at least November 2027.”
