Synthesis of Evidence for Tobacco Taxation Policy Reform in West Africa

West Africa has been identified as a new lucrative market by the tobacco industry. Tobacco consumption is on the rise in most of the countries in the region, and consumption among youth is found to be similar to, or even greater than, that observed in adults. Existing evidence shows that tobacco taxation policies, when they make tobacco products less affordable, are one of the most effective tobacco control measures on a national, regional, and global scale.In action research carried out in 2011-2012, the Consortium pour la recherche économique et sociale (CRES) completed a status report on tobacco taxation policies in the 15 member countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The results were presented during a special 2012 ECOWAS Commission conference and found that tobacco taxation rates are still low in the region. The conference report states the willingness of ECOWAS and its members to adopt tobacco taxation policies that are more similar to the guidelines that accompany the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.The goal of this project is to draft a technical report based on the best existing data that will inform the development of new ECOWAS and West African Economic and Monetary Union directives on tobacco taxation in West Africa. Another objective is to promote intersectoral action through knowledge transfer and exchange workshops involving decision-makers from those public sectors affected by tobacco taxation policies: health, trade, customs, and finance.