The 13th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health

Objective: Tobacco control is indeed a very challenging task in developing countries especially in sub-Saharan Africa. The un-relenting and aggressive quest of the tobacco industry to establish their presence in this vulnerable population through their aggressive marketing has increased in recent times. West Africa Doctors & Healthcare Professionals Network Portal is a virtual meeting place for doctors and healthcare professionals all over the world. It is an access point for information and knowledge through telemedicine,knowledge-based support of diagnosis, treatment and management of the patient. One of the components of the portal is “Tobacco or Health”.

Methods: WADN was formed in March 2002 as a telemedicine service. Since then it has grown to a full scale portal offering a range of services from news, search, directory, chat, forum, RSS syndication and publications. . The portal is an open source content management system (XOOPS). We publish the latest research into tobacco and health, link to relevant tobacco control resources and create a special content to mark campaigns. On “World No Tobacco Day”, we carried banners from several groups, published photos and relevant content. Our archives contain these materials which can be accessed anytime. Since 2004, we have had an active discussion group on Tobacco or Health on the telemedicine server.

Results: Although, it is difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of advocacy through the internet in Africa, nevertheless the internet is an effective tool as it reaches a wider population. It also creates an opportunity for flow of information among West African Healthcare Professionals in the Diaspora.