The African Tobacco Situational Analysis (ATSA) is a two-year initiative of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) with the support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The initiative was launched in December 2007, and after a competitive review process (through a Call for Letters of Intent), 12 Sub-Saharan African country teams were selected for funding. The overall objectives of the initiative are to understand the critical determinants of success for tobacco control in Sub-Saharan Africa, and to inform the development and implementation of tobacco control strategies in Africa.

In addition to the existing 12 countries, ATCRI has a 10-month project of mini ATSA in Togo, Benin Republic, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Botswana and Uganda, which takes the number of countries to 18. As part of the ATSA project, ATCRI is coodinating a new communication strategy for Africa around the initiative, by developing new concepts for improved and co‐coordinated unified communication in the region. The new communication strategy now provides for mechanisms that will enable ATSA teams to enhance communication, share experience and new findings as the ATSA project progresses in selected countries, with ATCRI as the hub.

Click here to visit the ATSA web portal Online: http://atsa.atcri.org