Over 20 media practitioners were trained on the necessity to actively engage in the fight against tobacco last Tuesday.

Tobacco consumption and production is on a steady increase in Cameroon. The country produces 5,000 tons of tobacco each year. A total of 28.8 percent of Cameroonians are said to consume tobacco. In the Centre Region in 2008, studies indicate that 15, 2 smokers were pupils aged between 13 and 15 and 25, 3 percent were personnel in the school milieu.

It is against this backdrop that the African Tobacco Control Consortium (ATCC) through the African Tobacco Control Regional Initiative (ATCRI), organised a one-day facilitation workshop in Yaounde on Tuesday to identify and creat a pool of jouralists with special dedication to tobacco control in Cameroon. The effort was equally to improve journalists’ capacities and build alliances amongst different tobacco control actors. It was also to enhance relationships between tobacco control advocates and the media in Cameroon and above all, improve the quantity and quality of tobacco reporting in the country and in sub-saharan Africa.

Dr Flore Ndembiyembe, Permanent Secretary, National Commiittee for the Fight Against Drugs, in a presentation, said the situation is disheartening in Cameroon and synergy between the media, civil society and government is indispensable.