Smoking in Africa

Yesterday morning on the way to work I was listening to NPR and there was a news story discussing smoking in Africa, how it's on the rise, and how it needs to be stopped immediately. Now, my first reaction upon hearing this was, "Africa has more important problems than Cigarette smoking such as... POVERTY, the AIDS epidemic, instability, etc." Right? The list really goes on and on... so smoking should not be a priority. Smoking is the last thing Africans should worry about, let them have a cigarette if they so choose.

My initial reaction is the reason I must share this story. There were a lot of points that enlightened me, so to speak.

The most obvious and compelling argument is that we are currently in the pre-epidemic phase of smoking in Africa. You have to prevent an epidemic before it happens. Europe is the great example, and we need to use their example to learn from their situation. I'm telling you, my brain couldn't even piece that much together on it's own.

What really struck me is how Tobacco companies are manipulating people in developing countries to increase their market and increase profit. Tobacco companies? Manipulate people? No Surprise. Luckily, in the United States regulation has put a stop to this unbridled, shameful manipulation of the masses. You won't see a cartoon character smoking a cigarette or passing a pack of cigarettes to a child. That's not normal anymore. But, in Africa, it appears that tobacco companies are taking advantage of instability and lack of regulation in the government to misguide the public. For example, one advertisement went so far as to explicitly state that smoking makes you smarter. I know that statement goes against our better judgment, but there is a big difference between walking down a street in Nairobi with a billboard that says "Smoking makes you smarter" and walking through Heathrow Airport and seeing huge signs that say "SMOKING KILLS" on your pack of cigarettes. Where are you most likely to light up (even if you are already a smoker)????

I was very impressed when they spoke to pedestrians in Nairobi. They were well-informed about the damaging effects of second hand smoke, and even if they weren't they were so articulate. Which again confirms my notion that the average citizen in most countries is smarter - smartness is very subjective, I'll say more worldly and politically attuned - than the average American. Even the illiterate folk in some places know more about what's going on in the world. Is it because they're smarter? Not necessarily, this has nothing to do with aptitude. This has to do with the fact that certain people make it their business to know. There was one man who stood out from the rest with his outlandish comments - He claimed that smoking releases carbon dioxide into the air, and therefore his smoking helps the trees breathe. hahahaha Smokers are environmentalists.

Anyway, I hope this is interesting and I have a feeling that it is not. But, when I heard this story, it really angered me. The reaction is what inspired the post.

Even beyond the issue of smoking, why don't we hear about Africa? Maybe I'm in a Middle Eastern and Latin American news bubble, but I could swear that we don't get enough news coverage about Africa. Look at how we even treat the stories, we treat the entire continent as if it were one big country. In fact, I just did, but unlike Sarah Palin I at least know that Africa isn't one big country. The hypocrisy of it all just kills me. If this country was so concerned about liberating people, establishing stable governments, and pushing for democratic regimes, certain African nations would be on the critical priority list. Just as always, humanitarian issues get placed on the back burner, and we continue to kill our soldiers to support wars with unclear purposes. We criticize regimes that are unfriendly to us labeling them oppressive, and make nice with regimes that are even more oppressive than some of our enemies.

America needs to keep it real.



P.S. Doesn't the guy in the picture look kind of like Santa Clause??