Catherine O. Egbe

South African Medical Research Council | MRC · ATODRU

Tobacco vendors are critical stakeholders in the tobacco supply chain. This study examined their perception, compliance, and potential economic impact of Nigeria's tobacco control laws related to the retail setting. This was a qualitative study involving in-depth interviews of 24 purposively selected tobacco vendors. The face-to-face interviews wer...

Introduction: Using more than one tobacco product increases the risk of tobacco-related diseases. We investigated trends in the prevalence and dual use of factory-made (FM) cigarettes, other tobacco products, and electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) in South Africa over a 12-year period. Methods: Data from five waves (2007, 2010, 2011, 2017, and...

The South African government imposed one of the strictest lockdowns in the world as part of measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the country, including a ban on the sale of tobacco products. This study explored news media coverage of arguments and activities in relation to the South African lockdown tobacco sales ban. We collected media artic...

Recent studies have shown softening among smokers in different countries and in different population groups i.e., as smoking prevalence declined remaining smokers made more quit attempts and smoked fewer cigarettes per day (CPD), as opposed to hardening. We examined tobacco use-related cross-sectional data from five waves of the South African Socia...

Yearly, tobacco use kills about 8 million people globally, 80% of whom live in low/middle-income countries. Given sub-Saharan Africa’s (SSA) rapidly increasing and youthful population, growing incomes and the increased presence of the tobacco industry, the number of tobacco users is growing. The region is predicted to face a heavier burden of tobac...

Tobacco, nicotine and related products have and continue to change rapidly, creating new challenges for policies regulating their advertising, promotion, sponsorship and sales. This paper reviews recent commercial product offerings and the regulatory challenges associated with them. This includes electronic nicotine delivery systems, electronic non...

Background In 2018, South Africa opened public consultations on its newly proposed tobacco control bill, resulting in substantial public debate in which a range of arguments, either in favour of or against the Bill, was advanced. These were accompanied by the recurring discussions about the annual adjustments in tobacco taxation. This study uses th...

Objectives In South Africa, the Control of Tobacco and Electronic Delivery Systems Bill seeks to regulate e-cigarettes as tobacco products, including their advertising, promotion and sponsorship. Population data on e-cigarette advertising in South Africa are needed to inform public health programs, practice and policy. We examined self-reported e-c...

We estimated the spatial distribution of e-cigarette vape shops in South Africa and measured associations with tobacco use among adults. We linked geocoordinates of identified vape shops to internet protocol addresses of individual participants in the 2018 Health 24 survey (n = 18,208). We used logistic regression to measure the associations betwee...

As a public health measure against COVID-19, South Africa restricted the sale of “tobacco, e-cigarettes and related products” for 5 months, ending on August 17, 2020. We examined e-cigarette marketing activities during this restriction. Using web scraping, we accessed data for 2661 e-cigarette liquids marketed online by South African vendors in Jun...

Introduction To inform policy making under the proposed The Control of Tobacco and Electronic Delivery Systems Bill, we compared annual costs of using e-cigarettes versus cigarettes, and estimated revenue from e-cigarette taxation. Methods We extracted e-cigarette retail prices from 231 South African e-cigarette vendor websites. We compared annual...

Background The South African Medicines Control Council classifies e-cigarettes as Schedule 3 substances and requires them to be dispensed only within pharmacies. e-Cigarettes are however ubiquitous and are marketed as cessation aids. We investigated the relationship between e-cigarette use and smoking cessation among South African adult smokers. M...

Objective To examine the use of different cessation aids among current South African smokers who have ever tried to quit smoking. Design Cross-sectional design. Setting South Africa has progressively passed several policies over the past few decades to encourage smoking cessation. Data on cessation behaviours are needed to inform policymaking. We...

Introduction and Aims Alcohol use is among the leading risk factors for premature death and morbidity in South Africa. This study sought to identify factors associated with drinking behaviour in on‐ and off‐licensed premises (typical occasion quantity and frequency) among adults in the City of Tshwane, South Africa. Design and Methods A household...

Current South African tobacco control law allows for 25% designated smoking areas in some indoor public places. This study investigates non-smokers’ exposure to second-hand smoke (SHS) in workplaces, homes, cafés/restaurants, and shebeens (local bars) using data from the 2017 South African Social Attitude Survey. Factors associated with any level o...

WCTOH Webinar No 1: Tobacco and Covid-19: understanding the science and policy implications

The increasing levels and more frequent use of alcohol among females, especially those in younger age groups, is a worldwide concern. An in-depth understanding of this phenomenon is, however, limited. This study aimed to explore the factors influencing alcohol use among female adolescent students as guided by the ecological systems theory of Bronfe...

Background: People living with HIV (PLWH) who drink alcohol and use tobacco are particularly vulnerable to tobacco-induced diseases due to an already compromised immune system. This study investigated the prevalence and factors associated with tobacco use (cigarette and snuff) among PLWH who drink heavily. Methods: Participants (n = 623) on anti...

Introduction Shisha which was formally popular mostly in the Eastern Mediterranean region is now gaining popularity globally and has become a trending tobacco product in Nigeria. The increasing popularity of shisha is possibly driven by the attractive flavours and the misperception that it is safer than traditional cigarettes. Since the media plays...

Tobacco use is the single largest preventable cause of death globally. For years, the tobacco industry sought to create a tobacco product that is less controversial than conventional cigarettes. Electronic cigarettes were created out of the supposed need to supply consumers of tobacco products with a less harmful tobacco product. The question remai...

Introduction Nigeria ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in 2005. Tobacco control advocates in Nigeria achieved some success in countering tobacco industry interference to implement the FCTC. Methods We triangulated interviews with key informants from local and international organisations who worked in Nigeria with docu...

Background: Nigeria is a significant tobacco market and influential country in Africa. Nigeria ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in 2005. We reviewed Nigeria's tobacco control legislation since 2000 and compliance of the National Tobacco Control Act (NTCA) 2015 with the FCTC. Methods: We reviewed the National Tobacc...

Background Tobacco control policy in South Africa was one of the strongest in the African continent before the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) entry into force in 2005. South Africa ratified the FCTC in 2005 and the treaty came into force same year. However, with many African governments keying into implementation of the FCTC, So...

The theory of triadic influence (TTI) was employed as a framework to explore the risk influences for cigarette smoking among an inclusive sample of young smokers. This qualitative study involved a purposive sample of 18 young smokers aged 18–24 years. Data were collected using individual interviews and analysed using thematic analysis. Following th...

Background People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) face various day-to-day and long-term personal, interpersonal, social, physical and psychological challenges as a result of, and in addition to the health conditions they are susceptible to due to their HIV status. There is a dearth of large-scale research to provide robust prevalence estimates of ment...

Background: Drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. The long-term health effects of smoking and the risk of adverse TB outcomes, including increased periods of infectiousness, have been reported among DR-TB patients in South Africa. Objectives: This study aimed to identify the barriers to smoki...

ABSTRACT Background. Nigeria plays important economic and political roles in Africa and is a significant market for the tobacco industry. This study describes the tobacco industry’s efforts to block Nigeria’s early tobacco control attempts, especially the Tobacco Smoking (Control) Decree 20 of 1990, and efforts to strengthen it in 1995. Method. Ana...

Poor governance has been identified as a barrier to effective integration of mental health care in low- and middle-income countries. Governance includes providing the necessary policy and legislative framework to promote and protect the mental health of a population, as well as health system design and quality assurance to ensure optimal policy imp...

Background Nigeria plays important economic and political roles in Africa and is a significant market for the tobacco industry. This study describes the tobacco industry’s efforts to block Nigeria’s early tobacco control attempts, especially the Tobacco Smoking (Control) Decree 20 of 1990, and efforts to strengthen the Decree in 1995. Method Analy...

Cigarette smoking is a known public health challenge given the number of tobacco-related diseases. Research is needed to constantly evaluate smoking prevalence in particular settings like Nigeria with projections of increasing smoking uptake. This study examined the smoking behaviour of the young people in Southern Nigeria in relation to their demo...

ABSTRACT Background: We investigated the risk influences for smoking behaviour amongst the youth in Southern Nigeria guided by the Theory of Triadic Influence with specific focus on cultural/environmental, interpersonal and intrapersonal factors serving to increase smoking initiation and perpetuation. Method: We used an exploratory mixed methods re...

Background: In addition to services within the health system, interventions at the population and community levels are also important for the promotion of mental health, primary prevention of mental, neurological and substance use (MNS) disorders, identification and case detection of MNS disorders; and to a lesser degree treatment, care and rehabi...

Provides evidence from high-income countries (HICs) and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) for population-wide and community-level interventions that improve mental health in LMICs and that often require coordinated efforts among different sectors, such as health, education, social development, labor, and criminal justice systems. Interventio...

In low and middle income countries there is evidence to suggest effectiveness of community-based psychosocial interventions for schizophrenia. Many psychosocial interventions have however been conceptualized in high income countries and assessing their feasibility and acceptability in low and middle income countries is pertinent and the objective o...

People with mental illness (PWMI) are faced with a number of social and health-related challenges especially stigma and discrimination which tend to have negative effects on their lives. This paper presents narrative monologues portraying the experiences and effects of psychiatric stigma and discrimination on PWMI in South Africa. These narratives...

The increase in smoking prevalence in developing countries including Nigeria has been mainly blamed on the aggressive marketing strategies of big tobacco companies. There is a paucity of research on other socio-cultural risk factors for smoking among the youth. The main objective of this study is to explore and describe socio-cultural risk factors...

Cigarette smoking has widely received the attention of international and local health bodies. Efforts are being made towards curbing smoking prevalence globally with a view to reduce the health, economic and social effects of smoking in the society. While some developed countries are recording success in this effort mainly through stringent tobacco...

Cigarette smoking has widely received the attention of international and local health bodies. Efforts are being made towards curbing smoking prevalence globally with a view to reduce the health, economic and social effects of smoking in the society. While some developed countries are recording success in this effort mainly through stringent tobacco...

Background Stigma and discrimination against people with mental illness remain barriers to help seeking and full recovery for people in need of mental health services. Yet there is scarce research investigating the experiences of psychiatric stigma on mental health service users in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The aim of this study was...

This study explored the reasons behind the difference in the smoking behaviour of males and females in southern Nigerian communities using a mixed method approach. Twenty-seven participants were interviewed, and the modified Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) questionnaire was administered to 550 youth aged 18-24years. Interpretative Phenomenologic...

The majority of new HIV diagnoses in the United Kingdom (UK) occur in people with heterosexually acquired HIV infection, the majority of whom are African communities. Current research shows that despite health promotion efforts and advances in therapy these communities are accessing HIV care late. This study therefore explored barriers to equal acc...

Aim To conduct a qualitative systematic review on the use of lay counselors in South Africa to provide lessons on optimizing their use for psychological and behavioral change counseling for chronic long-term care in scare-resource contexts. Method A qualitative systematic review of the literature on lay counselor services in South Africa. Results...

These two poems come from my experience as a qualitative researcher in Nigeria where this method of research is not a very common phenomenon. I was dazed by the vast opportunity this method gives a researcher to dig deep into a research problem and be submerged into the world of participants. Understanding the experiences of young smokers and how t...

This study explored the role of cultural factors in tobacco use in a Nigerian setting. Participants were 27 community members: community leaders (5), political analysts/officials of non-governmental organisations (4) and 18 young tobacco users (age range 18 and 24 years). Data on the cultural use of tobacco products and social norms around tobacco...

Background: Many aspects of tobacco control policies have been found to be effective in scaling down smoking prevalence in developed countries. However, there has been reported increase in smoking prevalence in Asia and Africa due mainly to weak policies and increased marketing activities of tobacco multinationals in these regions. Objectives: This...

This is a quasi-experimental study aimed at investigating the effect of HIV information and decision making skills in fostering the HIV awareness level of adolescent students as well as enhancing positive behavioural intentions towards HIV and AIDS among them. The research revealed that there was a significant influence of treatments (i.e. HIV info...