BackgroundIn 2016, Uganda became one of few sub-Saharan African countries to implement comprehensive national smoke-free legislation. Since the World Health Organisation recommends Civil Society Organisation’s (CSO) involvement to support compliance with smoke-free laws, we explored CSOs’ perceptions of law implementation in Kampala, Uganda, and the challenges and opportunities for achieving compliance. Since hospitality workers tend to have the greatest level of exposure to second-hand smoke, we focussed on implementation in respect to hospitality venues (bars/pubs and restaurants).MethodsIn August 2016, three months after law implementation, we invited key Kampala-based CSOs to participate in face-to-face semi-structured interviews. Interviews probed participants’ perceptions about law implementation, barriers impeding compliance, opportunities to enhance compliance, and the role of CSOs in supporting law implementation. Interviews were recorded and transcribed. Qualitative content analysis was conducted using the interview transcripts.ResultsFourteen individuals, comprising mainly senior managers from CSOs, participated and reported poor compliance with the smoke-free law in hospitality venues. Respondents noted that contributing factors included low awareness of the law amongst the general public and hospitality staff, limited implementation activities due to scarce resources and lack of coordinated enforcement. Opportunities for improving compliance included capacity building for enforcement agency staff, routine monitoring, rigorous enactment of penalties, and education about the smoke-free law aimed at hospitality venue staff and the general public. Allegations of tobacco industry misinformation were said to have undermined compliance. Civil Society Organisations saw their role as supporting law implementation through education, stakeholder engagement, and evidence-based advocacy.ConclusionsThis study suggests that the process of smoke-free law implementation in Uganda has not aligned with World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines for implementing smoke-free laws, and highlights that low-income countries may need additional support to enable them to effectively plan for policy implementation and resist industry interference.

ObjectiveThis study evaluated knowledge, opinions and compliance related to Uganda’s comprehensive smoke-free law among hospitality venues in Kampala Uganda.DesignThis multi-method study presents cross-sectional findings of the extent of compliance in the early phase of Uganda’s comprehensive smoke-free law (2 months postimplementation; pre-enforcement).SettingBars, pubs and restaurants in Kampala Uganda.Procedure and participantsA two-stage stratified cluster sampling procedure was used to select hospitality sites stratified by all five divisions in Kampala. A total of 222 establishments were selected for the study. One hospitality representative from each of the visited sites agreed to take part in a face-to-face administered questionnaire. A subsample of hospitality venues were randomly selected for tobacco air quality testing (n=108). Data were collected between June and August 2016.Outcome measuresKnowledge and opinions of the smoke-free law among hospitality venue staff and owners. The level of compliance with the smoke-free law in hospitality venues through: (1) systematic objective observations (eg, active smoking, the presence of designated smoking areas, ‘no smoking’ signage) and (2) air quality by measuring the levels of tobacco particulate matter (PM2.5) in both indoor and outdoor venues.ResultsActive smoking was observed in 18% of venues, 31% had visible ‘no smoking’ signage and 47% had visible cigarette remains. Among interviewed respondents, 57% agreed that they had not been adequately informed about the smoke-free law; however, 90% were supportive of the ban. Nearly all respondents (97%) agreed that the law will protect workers’ health, but 32% believed that the law would cause financial losses at their establishment. Indoor PM2.5 levels were hazardous (267.6 µg/m3) in venues that allowed smoking and moderate (29.6 µg/m3) in smoke-free establishments.ConclusionsIn the early phase of Uganda’s smoke-free law, the level of compliance in hospitality venues settings in Kampala was suboptimal. Civil society and the media have strong potential to inform and educate the hospitality industry and smokers of the benefits and requirements of the smoke-free law.

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IntroductionWhile Uganda has made legislative progress towards implementing Article 5.3 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), ongoing challenges in minimising tobacco industry interference have not been adequately explored. This analysis focuses on understanding difficulties in managing industry engagement across government ministries and in developing effective whole-of-government accountability for tobacco control.MethodsInterviews with Uganda government officials within the health sector and beyond, including in Ministries of Trade, Agriculture and Revenue.ResultsThe findings indicate substantial variations in awareness of Article 5.3, its norm and practices across government sectors. The data suggest ambiguity and uncertainty about accountability for Article 5.3 implementation, with policy makers in departments beyond health often uncertain about obligations under the FCTC. Second, we highlight how responsibility for Article 5.3 implementation and the obligations incurred are widely seen as restricted to the Ministry of Health. Third, competing mandates and perceived difficulties in reconciling health goals with economic growth are shown to impact on accountability for tobacco control. Yet, importantly, the data also demonstrate enthusiasm in some unexpected parts of government for actively engaging with Article 5.3 and for promoting greater intersectoral coordination.ConclusionThis paper demonstrates the intrinsic challenges of developing whole-of-government approaches, highlighting considerable uncertainty and ambiguity among decision makers in Uganda about tobacco control governance. The analysis points to the potential for Uganda’s national coordinating mechanism to help reconcile competing expectations and demonstrate the importance of Article 5.3 beyond health actors.

The economic cost of tobacco use is well documented in high-income countries. It has been measured in relatively fewer low-and middle-income countries, and much less in sub-Saharan Africa despite the longstanding recognition of significant current and future health risk to people attributed by tobacco use in this region. This article fills this gap by estimating the economic cost of tobacco use in Uganda, a low-income country in sub-Saharan Africa. This study estimates the economic cost of tobacco use in Uganda using the cost-of-illnesses approach based on data collected from a survey of patients and caregivers in four major service centers in Mulago National Referral Hospital, namely, Uganda Cancer Institute, Uganda Heart Institute, Chest Clinic and Diabetic Clinic, key informant interviews and secondary sources for the year 2014. The total direct health care and non-health care cost of tobacco-related illnesses in Uganda was USD 41.56 million. The total indirect morbidity and mortality costs from the loss of productivity due to tobacco-related illnesses were USD 11.91 million and USD 73.01 million, respectively. The direct and indirect costs of tobacco use added up to USD 126.48 million, which is equivalent to 0.5% of GDP, a proportion comparable to the estimated health cost of tobacco use in other countries. The total health care cost of tobacco-related illnesses constitutes 2.3% of the national health care account which is already over-burdened with the cost of infectious diseases, limited medical personnel and infrastructure. In addition, tobacco-related illnesses heavily reduce life expectancy of tobacco users and ultimately their economic productivity. The cost of tobacco-related illnesses in Uganda far outweighs the benefits of employment and tax revenue generated from the tobacco sector. Stronger tobacco control measures need to be undertaken to reduce the disease and economic burden of tobacco use in this country.