Learners across the country are hard at work creating striking mural artworks on winning by not smoking through a national tobacco education initiative that forms part of the National Department of Health ‘Sibo Manqoba!’ campaign.  The DOH has joined forces with government departments and leading health NGOs to roll out the Sibo Manqoba! campaign, which aims to raise awareness of tobacco and e-cigarette harms, encourage tobacco users to quit and prevent non-users from starting.  “Sibo Manqoba means ‘we are winners’. We’re calling on South Africans to conquer tobacco and win the battle against the debilitating health impact tobacco has on our nation,” says Dr Tshimi Lynn Moeng-Mahlangu, Chief Director: Health Promotion, Nutrition, Oral Health in the Department of Health. 

With a strong focus on the youth, Sibo Manqoba has launched with a national tobacco education mural competition, schools pledge and education days delivered in partnership with the Department of Environmental Health (DoEH) and Protect our Next organisations – the NCAS, the Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA), the SA Medical Research Council (SAMRC) the Heart and Stroke Foundation South Africa (HFSA) and the South African Tobacco Free Youth Forum (SATFYF).

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!’.