The REEP newsletter is published every second month, around the 25th day of the month. Our aim is to share newsworthy and interesting content about REEP and the FCTC Knowledge Hub with our readers. This e-newsletter gives us an opportunity to showcase some of the research and capacity building activities performed by members of REEP. We also hope that this channel of communication will inspire policy makers and researchers to contact us on matters related to tobacco tax and illicit tobacco trade.
Regular features include a Director's message, updates on published papers, journal articles and stories printed in the popular press, as well as highlights from recent and upcoming events such as workshops, training courses, conferences etc.
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#34 November 2024We are pleased to share this packed last newsletter of 2024. Many things have happened over the past two months. REEP staff attended global meetings and conferences, three papers were published, and REEP was reviewed by the University of Cape Town’s Research Committee. We also share news of the upcoming Tobacco Taxation 101 Course for 2025, and our usual contributions about the developments at the Tobacco Control Data Initiative, and Leoné’s report on global research outputs in the tobacco control space. Read in full online here or download: |
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#33 September 2024In addition to tobacco research, we have also been working on alcohol research. Recently REEP completed a comprehensive review on alcohol policy in South Africa. We also report on the latest developments with the Tobacco Control Data Initiative, and participation in an African Tobacco Tax Consortium meeting held in Mauritius. We also share news of the upcoming Tobacco Taxation 101 Course for 2025. Read in full online here or download: |
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#32 July 2024In this newsletter we report on our recent publications; research and media pieces, and on the teaching side, we report on the Tobacco Taxation 101 course that was completed by our first cohort of students in mid-June 2024. Looking forward, we launched two exciting new projects, as well as a new newsletter feature: an overview of economics of tobacco control research published around the world in the past two months. Read in full online here or download: |
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#31 May 2024In the past two months, three papers written by REEP staff have been published, and the Tobacco Taxation 101, five-week online course, was officially launched on 13 May 2024, with over 50 students from 28 countries participating. On World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) on 31 May our weekly TT101 webinar will be open to all people interested in tobacco control: register here to join us for a discussion on youth smoking in Africa. Read in full online here or download: |
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#30 March 2024We shared some exciting news in this edition: REEP will be launching an online Tobacco Taxation 101 course on 13 May 2024. We share the course description and a brochure for the course, with links to find out more and apply. We also share highlights from the Knowledge Hub's attendance at the Conference of the Parties in February, and discuss two recently published research papers. Read in full online here or download: |
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#29 January 2024In this edition we share news that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has funded REEP for another three and a half years, through the African Capacity Building Foundation. In addition, the REEP team has been developing a 4-week online training course called Tobacco Taxation 101 that will be launched in May 2024. We hope that it will benefit policymakers and NGOs. More details will follow in due course. Read in full online here or download: |
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#28 November 2023Members of REEP have been involved in a number of research dissemination activities recently, such as an online workshop focused on tobacco taxation, an alcohol policy conference, and a meeting of the National Taxpayers’ Association in Kenya, where the Tobacco Excise Tax Simulation Model was made available to that organisation and other stakeholders. REEP's project in partnership with Development Gateway in the development of dashboards to support tobacco control policy in six African countries is coming to an end, and we report on some recent activities in this edition. Read in full online here or download: |
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#27 September 2023In the past 2 months, REEP researchers published 4 papers: One, led by Chengatai Dare, looks at media reporting of the 2020 sales ban. The other, led by Corné van Walbeek, reports on smokers’ quitting behaviour during and after the sales ban. Kirsten van der Zee co-authored a paper that used price data collected by UCT students, and looks at excise tax pass-through in a number of African countries. Vanessa Darsamo published a paper on the price, cross-price and income elasticities of a number of sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) categories in Nigeria. Read in full online here or download: |
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#26 July 2023In this edition we report on a number of activities where REEP members have spoken: at the International Health Economics Association Conference in Cape Town, at an online workshop on the funding of health awareness campaigns, and at a high-level meeting on tobacco taxation for the WHO Eastern Mediterranean region. Read in full online here or download: . |
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#25 May 2023In the past two months, REEP colleagues travelled to Kenya and Eswatini and developed Tobacco Excise Tax Simulation Models (TETSiMs) to quantify the likely fiscal and consumption effects of a change in the excise tax structure and/or excise tax levels. Recently, the DG Murray Trust published a number of reports on alcohol policy, where REEP staff were substantially involved. We also highlight the work of the Tobacco Control Data Initiative (TCDI) who has produced dashboards for Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, and Zambia, and is planning one for the Democratic Republic of Congo in the near future. |
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#24 March 2023In this newsletter, amongst other news, we report on three in-country missions that were conducted under the banner of the Knowledge Hub: in Panama, Mongolia and Tanzania. Our partners at the Development Gateway recently launched a dashboard supporting tobacco control efforts in Ethiopia. |
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#23 January 2023REEP members have recently published a number of papers in the academic literature (see papers co-authored by Hana Ross, Nicole Vellios, and Alfred Mukong) and in the popular literature (see paper by Vanessa Darsamo). REEP has also provided support to government officials of Mongolia, specifically regarding the taxation of e-cigarettes, and to government officials of the United Republic of Tanzania, about cigarette taxation. |
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#22 November 2022In the past two months, REEP colleagues have published papers in high-end academic journals, and participated in a number of online meetings and conferences including the the 4th international conference on waterpipe tobacco smoking, and a virtual event for the London Global Cancer Week. REEP also recently made a submission to the Select Committee on Finance of the National Council of Provinces on the to-be-introduced excise tax on e-cigarettes. |
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#21 September 2022As the year enters its last quarter, we share some of REEP’s activities from the past two months: we report on a number of trips abroad, a two-week long Knowledge Hub workshop, presentations made by REEP staff to tobacco control stakeholders, National Treasury, the PHASA conference, and Mensa, and papers published in the Econ3x3 series and Tobacco Control. |
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#20 July 2022In this newsletter we report on the SA government's recent report on the Covid-19 pandemic, the launch of the TCDI dashboard for Nigeria, the conclusion of the 4-year West Africa IDRC-funded research project, and highlights from workshops hosted in Lebanon and Kenya attended by REEP researchers. |
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#19 May 2022The third issue of our e-newsletter this year covers the recently published Tobacco Atlas, Knowledge Hub news, updates on important and interesting articles and research papers that have recently been published, as well as the Mobilizing Health Taxes for Developmentwebinar, organized by the Center for Global Development and the Asian Development Bank. |
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#18 March 2022In this edition we share updates on recent publications and events, including the March Knowledge Hub workshop, and a meeting organized by CRES in Senegal, with officials of the ECOWAS and WAEMU economic blocs. We also report on the conclusion of the TCCP and GACD projects, a research paper on smoking initiation in Ghana, and news about the forthcoming Development Gateway launch of the Nigeria dashboard. |
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#17 January 2022Our first newsletter of the year shares REEP's response to the National Treasury's discussion document on the taxation of electronic nicotine and non-nicotine delivery systems. We provide an update on the E-library, and outline what participants can expect from the upcoming Knowledge Hub Tax webinar scheduled for March-April. We highlight recent research papers and give an update on the Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA). |
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#16 November 2021Nearing the end of another challenging year, in this edition we highlight recent events such as the TCCP stakeholder meeting REEP hosted in October, and the Africa Conference on Tobacco Control and Development. We also share some student updates, a recent journal article in Tobacco Control, news of a team member leaving and a new postdoc fellow starting soon, as well as a parody article contributed by our editor Dr Elizabeth Baldwin. |
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#15 September 2021In this newsletter we talk about August's 2-week virtual tobacco tax workshop with 7 countries, organised by the Knowledge Hub, and we feature the the Tobacco Control Data Initiative website that is growing its collection of new and existing tobacco control data. We also link to an op-ed we've published in the Daily Maverick, arguing that BATSA was the architect of the current turmoil in the market. |
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#14 July 2021We are pleased to report on our formal collaboration with Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA), and to announce that the African Price Collection Project is back in operation, with round 10. We profile two country reports on the size of the illicit market - one focusing on Ethiopia and another on Georgia. Two other recent papers are highlighted: one looking at the cost of not increasing the tobacco excise tax in four South-East Asian countries, and another investigating the feasibility of a minimum unit price on alcohol. |
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#13 May 2021In this newsletter we report on: the launch of the South African Tobacco Control Data Initiative (TCDI) website; a virtual workshop on illicit trade with officials from the Ministry of Finance in Georgia; the WHO manual on tobacco tax policy and administration launched in April; and news that REEP is to perform a study on implementing a minimum unit price (MUP) on alcohol in the Western Cape. |
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#12 March 2021In the past two months we have had a number of interactions with groups in Africa: a training workshop in Ghana, work with ACBF-sponsored think tanks and an inaugural meeting on using fiscal measures to reduce consumption of SSBs, in Kenya. Publications include a NIDS-CRAM report and 2 journal articles, and a written submission to the Standing and Select Portfolio Committees of Finance in SA following the budget speech. |
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#11 January 2021REEP's highlights in Dec 2020 & Jan 2021 include the launch of the E-library on Tobacco Taxation and Illicit Trade, the Knowledge Hub's 3-day webinar on tobacco tax modelling, the publication of the third report on smoking behaviour during lockdown, and the first peer-reviewed paper based on REEP’s research on smoking behaviour during the sales ban. |
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#10 November 2020Over the past two months members of REEP, and the Knowledge Hub in particular, have been involved in, and/or hosted, a number of online webinars and workshops. In our 10th edition we profile these virtual events, and also share recent highlights, such as links to media interviews with Corne about the Western Cape Government considering a minimum unit price on alcohol. |
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#9 September 2020REEP is currently running a third online survey to determine how people’s smoking patterns have altered now that the ban is lifted. Topics covered include quitting attempts, brand |
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#8 July 2020REEP's second smokers' survey report has been published - again receiving serious media attention. Our research results show that 93% of continuing smokers in the sample were able to buy cigarettes during the lockdown: i.e. despite the ban, the illicit market is thriving. In this month's edition we also share updates on Knowledge Hub activities (a new B2B brief and recent webinars), highlight recently published journal articles, and Hana reports on her experience reviewing industry studies on illicit trade in South-East Asia. |
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#7 May 2020In this edition, we share the results of REEPs online smokers' survey - which was reported on extensively in the media. While 16% of smokers quit during the lockdown, 90% of remaining smokers indicated that they purchased cigarettes during the lockdown, often at highly inflated prices. We profile a case study revealing SA's a massive illicit trade problem, and a paper on the impact of price changes on the number of cigarettes smoked by smokers in six South African townships, as well as a recent webinar with Johann van Loggerenberg. |
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#6 March 2020Corné's Director's Introduction to e-newsletter #6 recognises that South Africa is on lockdown while the world strives to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus. He also thanks REEP's funders for their understanding and for being flexible in their expectations in these unprecedented times. We discuss some of REEP’s activities from the past two months, including some important project updates. |
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#5 January 2020Our first edition of the new decade sees the launch of REEP's brand new logo. We also report on UCT Council adopting a new policy on funding from the tobacco industry, as well as the Tobacco Control Data Initiative and the recent Cabo Verde Tobacco Tax Workshop. In addition, we share some team news, with REEP extending fond farewells to some staff, while warmly welcoming some new personnel. |
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#4 November 2019This newsletter is dedicated to our Masters and PhD students who are graduating on 13 December 2019. The past two months have been very productive, so we are pleased to also share news of the latest REEP publications and events, such as the Knowledge Hub Workshop held in November. We wish our readers all the best for the festive season ahead, and look forward to returning in January 2020. |
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#3 September 2019We report on a number of projects and published papers in issue three, that focus specifically on the illicit cigarette market in South Africa and elsewhere. We share news of the Knowledge Hub providing St Helena with technical assistance in tax modelling and revenue predictions of a potential increase in the excise tax levels of tobacco. We also profile a new article which documents a recently-collected dataset on discarded cigarettes packs in Mongolia. |
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#2 July 2019In this issue we cover some highlights from the Knowledge Hub Workshop hosted in July, and reveal the first Back2Basics policy brief on Tobacco Admin. We also profile the African Cigarette Prices Data Project, and the Mongolia Illicit Cigarette Trade Study. Other notable events that took place recently include REEP Media Training, and the GTAC Public Economics Workshop. |
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#1 May 2019In our first issue, notably launched on World No Tobacco Day, we introduce REEP and share some details about the Knowledge Hub. We also profile Dr Jean Tesche, and highlight the IDRC/CRUK project. We share details on our recent journal articles and publications, and link to a number of op-eds recently published in the South African press. |
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