HAPPY WORLD NO TOBACCO DAY!

Hello everyone,

I hope you are well! I wanted to check in and provide an update from the Tobacco Control Data Initiative (TCDI) Ethiopia team. 

In This Newsletter

• Resourcing a data collection firm to understand the level of compliance with smoke free and TAPS laws in Ethiopia 
• Development of the TCDI Ethiopia website  
• TCDI project timeline update 

Why are you receiving this newsletter?

You are receiving this newsletter because you’ve been identified as a key stakeholder in the Ethiopia tobacco control environment. We are funding research and building an online website to assist you with your data and research needs.

About TCDI

The Tobacco Control Data Initiative (TCDI) is a 3.5-year project, implemented by Development Gateway (DG) in partnership with the University of Cape Town (UCT), and supported by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. TCDI aims to supply six countries, including Ethiopia, with improved access to high-quality, country-specific data that will inform better tobacco control policy design and implementation.

Primary Data Collection

Consultation Session 

Thank you to everyone that attended the Zoom stakeholders consultation session on Tobacco Advertisement, Promotion and Sponsorship (TAPS) and Smoke Free Environment. The consultation session provided valuable inputs for the selection of priority areas that will be the focus of the primary data collection. The scoping review reports on TAPS and Smoke Free Environment have been revised accordingly, and they have been shared with stakeholders. 

Request for Proposal (RFP)

You may recall that, during the co-design workshop, “Enforcement of Tobacco Control Laws” was selected for primary data collection. During this workshop, stakeholders noted that, among various enforcement issues, they were interested in having data on implementation of Smoke Free Environment, TAPS, single stick sales ban, sales ban to and by minors and impact of tobacco control policies. TAPS and Smoke Free Environment were then selected for primary data collection. We are pleased to share that we are in the process of soliciting experienced data collections firms to conduct this exercise. A Request for Proposal (RFP) was issued on May 30, 2022, and the submission of completed proposal is due by 11:59 PM (EAT) on Friday, July 1, 2022. The purpose of the RFP is to identify a data collection firm to collect primary quantitative and qualitative data on compliance with Smoke Free Environment and TAPS laws in Ethiopia. The data will provide decision-makers with evidence to inform priorities for implementation and enforcement of the laws. 

You may find the RFP here. All eligible and interested parties are encouraged to apply. We will continue to update you on this process, and look forward to sharing this new data with all of you as soon as it’s ready.

Content Updates 

As we shared in our previous newsletter, we commenced a phased approach to dashboard development of the online tool in August 2021. We are pleased to share that the dashboard design is ongoing. The background research for the respective themes and mockups have been peer-reviewed both internally by DG and externally by selected Ethiopian subject-matter experts. Below is a sneak peek of the dashboard designed for the prevalence theme.
 

Tobacco Taxation 

This module is currently underway. The background research document and mockups have been completed. We have also identified the subject-matter experts in Ethiopia to serve as external reviewers for this module. We anticipate that the Tobacco Taxation module will be ready for technical development in August following all internal and external reviews. 

Tobacco Industry Interference and Illicit Trade

The work on these modules is also underway. For Tobacco Industry Interference, the background research document and mockups are in progress while the background research document for illicit trade is being reviewed internally before proceeding to mockup development. We anticipate that the modules will be ready for technical development in September following all internal and external reviews.

Development Process 

We commenced a phased technical development of the online tool in August 2021. We have been hard at work reviewing secondary data collection variables for the respective themes. Each dashboard theme—Prevalence, Taxation, Tobacco Harm, Industry Interference, Illicit Trade, Tobacco Harm and Cessation—has a number of variables which stakeholders highlighted during the co-design workshop.

Review Process

The dashboard development process is highly collaborative between DG and key stakeholders. We are working with the University of Cape Town and a select group of thematic experts in Ethiopia as external reviewers for each theme. Their role includes providing expert advice on pertinent data and data sources, format and presentation, research methodology, content clarity, and accuracy.
 

Technical Development 

At DG, technical development refers to the building of the dashboard. Following all reviews and necessary steps, the technical team has begun working on building the dashboard. It is always exciting to see years/months of discussions and decisions start to come alive in tangible ways via infographics and charts. We will share sneak peeks of other graphics in upcoming stakeholder newsletters. Stakeholders will have the opportunity to access the dashboard modules and share their feedback at a later date. 

To give you an overview of this work in another TCDI country, we invite you to visit the South Africa website, which is now live.
 

Next Steps

The TCDI Ethiopia team will: 

• Continue dashboard technical development. All updates on this and more will be shared via this newsletter (preliminary feedback is highly welcome.), 
• Continue with tobacco industry interference and illicit trade writing and technical development, and 
• Begin secondary research for tobacco harm and cessation themes.

Project Timeline Update 

We plan to begin targeted demo sessions of the completed modules before the end of the year. These demos will form the basis for one-on-one stakeholder feedback sessions where feedback gathered will then be used to improve and fine-tune the TCDI Ethiopia website content ahead of the “soft launch.” We are hoping to have a “soft launch” for the dashboard by the end of 2022. Actual dates will be communicated once confirmed.