The African Tobacco Control Alliance has congratulated the government and people of Nigeria for its historic new measures prohibiting the promotion and glamorisation of tobacco and tobacco products in its film and music industry.
ATCA notes that the regulation, announced by the Nigerian Film and Video Censors Board on May 21, 2024, is the first of its kind in Africa and the second in the world after India.
It is also in line with new measures to address cross-border tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship and the depiction of tobacco in entertainment media adopted by the Parties to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in Panama city in February 2024.
The Alliance has endorsed the guidelines titled “Prohibition of Money Ritual, Ritual Killing, Tobacco, Tobacco Product, Nicotine Product Promotion, Glamorization, Display in Movies, Musical Videos and Skits”
According to the NFVCB, films depicting tobacco or nicotine use must henceforth display health warning labels on screen at the beginning and end of films, in addition to warnings that will appear on screen during scenes depicting tobacco or nicotine use.
Additionally, tobacco and nicotine brands are now prohibited from being displayed on screen or marketing in films.
The regulation covers movies, music videos and skits produced in Nollywood – one of the world’s biggest movie industries – and prohibit tobacco advertising at movie premieres and screenings.
Given the global popularity of Nigerian musics and films, the Alliance is optimistic that when fully adopted and enforced, the regulation will stamp out one of the most enduring ways tobacco companies target young people across the continent and its Diaspora and much of the rest of the world.