Stubbing out smoking in South Africa

Despite public health campaigns, smoking remains the leading avoidable cause of death worldwide, killing almost six million people a year, according to the World Health Organisation.

Tobacco use in Africa is lower than in Europe, and South Africa has managed to reduce the number of people smoking through some of the toughest laws on the continent.

But with rising incomes in many African nations, and because the continent has a young population, a huge potential market could be exploited further by tobacco companies, experts warn. 

Al Jazeera’s Tania Page reports from Johannesburg.