The African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) and the American Cancer Society (ACS) are working on a partnership on tobacco control in Africa.
Tobacco use is the world’s leading cause of preventable death. In Africa, most countries lack strong tobacco control policies and have limited awareness of the health effects of tobacco and its use.
The tobacco industry has enormous influence and actively undermines tobacco control by interfering in policy formulation and implementation.
ACS is dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major concern for health. Their focus in Africa is to reduce the incidence of tobacco-related cancers in low- and middle-income countries with a special emphasis on sub-Saharan Africa.
In collaboration with a worldwide network of partnerships, ACS is urging governments and international organizations to recognize that cancer is a global priority requiring an urgent response. The ACS has also been involved in grant making and building capacity for tobacco control of the Civil Society in Africa particularly through the Africa Tobacco Control Alliance (ATCA).
ACBF received funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to support strategic grant-making and capacity building of Civil Society Organizations to advance evidence-based Tobacco Control policies in Africa including tobacco taxation, advertising bans, graphic warning labels, and smoke-free environments.
The partnership with ACS aims at sustaining the work and gains made by the Africa Tobacco Control Alliance and its member organizations. While the current support of ACS to ATCA ends in November 2014, the ATCA has new Management who are working on implementing their new Strategic Plan and the partnership between ACS and ACBF would ensure a smooth transition for the on-going work in different countries of focus.
