A Scoping Review of Tobacco Control Health Communication in Africa: Moving towards Involving Young People

Abstract

Health communication has been highlighted as a cost-effective preventive intervention in Africa, where the prevalence of tobacco use is still relatively low compared to other World Health Organization (WHO) regions. This scoping review aimed to examine tobacco control health communication interventions in Africa. The review was guided by the PRISMA-ScR checklist. Data was extracted from 20 peer-reviewed papers, WHO Global Health Observatory on anti-tobacco mass-media campaigns for 54 African countries, and 6 WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control reports on Article 12. Data extraction informed by the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) data-extraction questions was used for peer-reviewed studies while a pre-determined template was used for the other sources. Narrative data synthesis informed by the JBI manual for evidence synthesis was employed. A lack of research that comprehensively addresses all areas of health communication and inconsistent use of health communication campaigns were identified. Only an average of 6 countries had ever implemented high-quality national mass-media campaigns in a decade, while an average of 33 countries consistently failed to conduct campaigns that lasted more than 3 weeks. Although the involvement of key populations was clearly vital to ensure content relevance and message clarity, a lack of health communication informed by young people was observed, as they rarely participated in key decision-making despite reportedly being the targets of interventions. Clear health communication for tobacco-use prevention informed by young people is lacking in African countries. Active participation of young people in developing targeted campaigns is needed to facilitate content relevance and comprehension to ultimately contribute to tobacco-use prevention.