Executive Summary

Burkina Faso has several tobacco control measures in place as the result of a set of regulations – the “Raabo” – promulgated by the executive branch in 1988, which includes basic provisions for smoke-free policies, advertising bans and warning labels. However, like many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, the regulation is weak in terms of its basic parameters, implementation and enforcement. As a result, the tobacco control in recent years has been pursuing comprehensive, FCTC-compliant tobacco control legislation (the country ratified the treaty in 2006). In 2010, the Council of Ministers approved a draft bill that had received significant input from the tobacco control community, which was then passed on to the National Assembly for legislative approval. At the same time, however, another bill was introduced into the National Assembly that had significant input from the tobacco industry. The latter of the two bills was approved by the legislature.

Concomitantly, tobacco control advocates continue to pursue the enforcement of existing smoke-free legislation. Although Burkina Faso has traditionally been a highly centralized government, in the last few years the government has taken sizeable steps to decentralize. As a result, significant powers, particularly in the area of health, have been devolved to the 359 mayors of the main municipalities. The ATSA team has been working with a sample of 45 of these elected officials and their staff to educate them about tobacco issues and to encourage and help them enforce smoke-free policies. They hope that success in some or all of the 45 municipalities will be a catalyst for change across the country.