Africa-Press – Malawi. Recent data from CEIC indicates that the number of tobacco smokers in Malawi is decreasing. According to the data, by 2023, an estimated 11.2 percent of adult Malawians were smoking tobacco, with a higher proportion of men (83 percent) than women (17 percent).
It is also estimated that 3.7 percent of boys and 0.3 percent of girls smoke. At least 5,400 deaths in Malawi were attributed to tobacco smoking in 2021.
Philip Morris International (PMI) Area Vice for Sub Saharan Africa, Branislav Bibic, said cigarette smoking is a significant public health concern in sub Saharan African countries, despite having relatively lower smoking rates compared to other regions.
Bibic warned that while smoking rates are showing that numbers of smokers are lower in the region, they are projected to increase, and the region faces unique challenges in addressing it.
He made the sentiments during an exclusive interview on the sidelines of Technovation 2025 Conference, which took place on June 10, 2025, in Cape Town, South Africa.
“When we look at the World Health Organization [WHO] data, and after decades of conventional tobacco control measures, the smoking rates in Sub-Saharan Africa are declining, but very marginally, while at the same time, the population in Africa is growing. So the overall number of smokers on the continent is increasing, and the number, if I remember it correctly, was 52 million in the year 2000, it grew to 66 million in 2015 and is estimated to grow to 84 million this year,” he said.
Recently, non-governmental organizations in Malawi said cigarette smoking is one of the leading causes of various health issues, including lung cancer, respiratory problems, heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.
Additionally, the organizations stated that tobacco is a major risk factor for deaths and disability, contributing to significant numbers of deaths from ischemic heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
The combination of smoking and HIV, which is prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa, creates a particularly complex public health challenge, she said.
Health activists have blamed weak government restrictions on tobacco sales and use, combined with aggressive marketing, as posing a challenge.
Thus, the organizations emphasize that there is a need for stronger tobacco control policies and enforcement, as many countries are not meeting the benchmarks set by the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).
Tobacco cessation or quitting are some of the measures for reducing health risks associated with smoking. These risks include a wide range of diseases, negative impacts on quality of life, and harm to others through second hand and third hand smoke.
Tobacco harm reduction (THR) is a potentially life-saving intervention for millions of people across the world, offering the chance to those currently using high-risk tobacco products, like cigarettes and some oral tobaccos, to switch to a range of safer nicotine products (SNP) that pose fewer risks to their health.
THR reduces health risks by providing people with safer alternative products and/or encouraging less risky behaviours, rather than by banning those products or behaviours. It emerged in the fight against HIV and Aids in the 1980s and has since developed into a range of evidence-based, humane and cost-effective practices that save countless lives worldwide.
SNPs are non-combustible: none of them burn tobacco and some of them do not contain any tobacco at all. They include nicotine vapes (e-cigarettes), tobacco-free nicotine pouches, among others.
PMI is one of the companies that have invested heavily in THR technologies to help in reducing the harm associated with tobacco use by offering smokers less harmful alternatives to traditional cigarettes.
These technologies, such as e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, aim to reduce exposure to harmful chemicals produced during combustion, potentially lowering the risk of smoking-related diseases.
During the interview, Bibic assured that PM would continue investing in science behind its products.
“We are continuing to invest in the technological development of these products, and that will be important, especially in developing countries of sub-Saharan Africa. Further development and evolution of the products that hopefully will become a more mature technology, hopefully cheaper technologies, maybe simpler to commercialize and simpler to understand for consumers. And that should accelerate the expansion of the new technologies,” he said, adding that this is creating not only a positive impact on public health in Africa, but also economic benefits through the value chain.
“These products need to be manufactured somewhere, and there is a whole value chain from manufacturing to commercialization of these products. And this will help in creating jobs for more people,” said Bibic.
PMI
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