South Africa - Sibo Manqoba! Mzansi commits to quit smoking

With the Covid-19 pandemic further highlighting the critical importance of quitting tobacco, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other health organisations continue to encourage countries to assist tobacco users to quit. Following on from 2021 ‘Commit to quit’ campaigns, the WHO has announced the 2022 global campaign for World No Tobacco Day - “Tobacco: Threat to our environment."  The campaign aims to raise awareness of the environmental impact of tobacco – from cultivation, to production, distribution and waste. It gives tobacco users yet another reason to quit.  

In continued support of quit initiatives into 2022, the National Department of Health (DOH) is working closely with the National Council Against Smoking (NCAS) and leading NGOs active in South Africa to communicate the importance of quitting smoking and the resources available to help people quit through a new campaign titled ‘Sibo Manqoba!’.

This Saturday, 30 October, the Mamelodi community will march from Stanza Bopape Sports Complex to Matimba Library Hall as they pledge to #Switchofftobacco in Mams. Local community leaders, school principals and teams from the Department of Environmental Health (DoEH) are joining forces with Protect our Next, a partnership of South Africa’s health organisations, to collect tobacco litter en route, which local learners will use to create larger than life tobacco education murals at their schools. 

The march will be followed by an event featuring community members, school principals, Protect our Next ambassadors, youth advocacy groups Youth with Passion, Ikamva Youth and the South African Tobacco Free Youth Forum (SATFYF), Pastor Pieter from the Royal Eagles Ministry at Silverton.  Successful quitter Nicholas Mokena will share his quit story. The programme incorporates dance, music and theatre featuring local company 6N9 Production. 

Here’s your chance to ask all your questions live as we chat with the wonderful oncologist Dr Sithembile Ngidi to wrap up Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  Learn about reducing your risk of cancer, how and why smoking causes cancer, signs to watch out for and how to screen for cancer.  Lorraine Govender from CANSA will join the chat to share information on where to go for help and support, and to discuss how the new Tobacco Control Bill will better protect our health. 

See you on Sunday 31^st October at 3pm on Facebook Live @protectournext. 

Click here for more and please share with your networks.    

A new initiative to #SwitchoffTobacco in Mamelodi launches this week. A dynamic team of Protect our Next ambassadors will be educating the Mamelodi community about the dangers of tobacco and e-cigarettes and explaining how the new Tobacco Control Bill will better protect communities.  Community media and social channels will carry #SwitchoffTobacco discussions, while the ambassadors visit local schools, churches, taxi ranks, malls, traders and community hotspots over the next month with an engaging edutainment programme that encourages the whole community to pledge to be tobacco free.