BACKGROUND: Despite its known health risks, the tobacco epidemic is evolving with the growth of waterpipe tobacco smoking (WTS) in Africa. This study explores media coverage of WTS in Africa to identify key themes, misinformation, and opportunities for public health education.
METHODS: Between October and December 2023, we analyzed media articles using Tobacco Watcher, an online surveillance portal that compiles news from over 595.000 web sources. We searched for Englishlanguage articles published in Africa that discussed WTS between 2012-2023 with Boolean terms (i.e., ‘shisha OR hookah OR waterpipe OR narghile AND Africa’). Themes identified include WTS regulations, health risks, venues, youth uptake, misconceptions/myths, and tobacco industry perspectives. We report the frequency of these themes and notable quotes.
RESULTS: We found 137 eligible articles from 15 of the 54 African countries. Most articles came from Kenya (n=39), Nigeria (n=21), and Egypt (n=17). Ninety-two (67.1%) discussed the health risks of WTS, thirty-seven (27.0%) referenced youth-uptake, and six (4.4%) discussed tobacco industry views about WTS. Over two-thirds (n=97, 70.8%) of articles discussed proposed or implemented WTS bans, with most originating from Kenya (n=34). Additionally, 27 (19.7%) discussed misconceptions/myths related to WTS, of which Nigeria (n=7) and Ghana (n=5) had the highest proportion.
CONCLUSIONS: Findings reveal widespread concern about health risks and strong interest in regulation of WTS in the media. A significant portion of articles discussed misconceptions about WTS, highlighting the need for targeted education campaigns to dispel myths and protect public health.