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​Funder: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (now the Gates Foundation) through the Development Gateway: an IREX Venture (lead implementer)

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Dr Noreen Mdege led tobacco control research prioritisation, and the design and implementation of multi-country research to address these priorities across six African countries. The studies covered illicit cigarette trade (the DRC, Zambia); tobacco advertising and promotion (Ethiopia); smoke-free environments (Ethiopia); tobacco-related morbidity/mortality (Kenya); shisha use (Nigeria); and electronic cigarette use (South Africa).

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Impact:

The studies provided content for the establishment of six national websites (DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Zambia) that aim to promote evidence-informed tobacco control policy design and implementation by providing country-specific data. Governmental institutions and civil society organisations (CSOs) have used the websites as one-stop shops for tobacco control data to support national policy and activities, e.g., (as reported here):

• public awareness campaigns in Nigeria

• Advocacy for the tabling of the tobacco control bill in Parliament in Zambia

• National-level customs officers training on the cigarette supply chain control (2024) in the DRC

• Ministry of Health and CSO advocacy for the ratification of the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products during World No Tobacco Day (2025) in the DRC.

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Research Capacity Development

• An early-career researcher successfully published their first lead-author, peer-reviewed journal article.

• Four early-career researchers had their first-ever publication from this research.

• An early-career researcher successfully secured a postdoctoral fellowship.