Despite low female smoking rates in the country, women face unique, hidden challenges when trying to access safer nicotine alternatives. Hannah Chidaya shares her personal and professional motivations for bringing these voices to light , highlighting the critical gaps in policy, education, and market regulation that leave Malawian women behind.
Transcription:
00:00 - 00:05
[Zuzanna Kopacz]
So, Hannah, what inspired you to focus on women and harm reduction in Malawi?
00:06 - 01:04
[Hannah Chidaya]
Actually, I would say that issues of women, to me, have a personal as well as a professional interest. I've noted that in my experience of work, women are mostly neglected as well as stigmatized in a lot of things. So because of this, their voices are left out in policies and their struggles or their realities are easily left out. And when I say personal, I was raised by a single mother. I noticed the realities she faced. So that alone made me to be sensitive on issues affecting women. So after going through the course online on tobacco harm reduction, I was like, wait a minute, what about the state of tobacco harm reduction in Malawi, especially on women? So that's why I went for it.
01:04 - 01:12
[Zuzanna Kopacz]
That's really interesting. And while working on your project, what have you learned about women's access to safer nicotine products?
01:12 - 01:58
[Hannah Chidaya]
I would say, working on the project, I've noticed that women's access to safer nicotine products in Malawi is a bit invisible and it's fragmented. Why is it so? It's because the prevalence rate of women smoking in Malawi is very minimal. It is around 5% or less, but still more. This doesn't mean that they should be left out. We shouldn't study the realities. So basically I would say that it's a bit fragmented, it's invisible, and you wouldn't even find a policy around it.
01:59 - 02:04
[Zuzanna Kopacz]
And what are the main barriers women face when trying to access these alternatives?
02:06 - 03:32
[Hannah Chidaya]
I would say there are a lot of barriers women face in accessing the alternatives. One of them is information. Basically, there is no information on safer nicotine products, which makes them even harder to access because without knowledge, they wouldn't know what they're accessing. So issues of knowledge, information, as well as I've talked about the policy. Kalanchoe Malawi doesn't have a policy on tobacco harm reduction. So this alone makes it hard for them to find safe nicotine products, alternatives, I would say so. Because what is found on the market, I would call them illicit products, not regulated by government or the policy. Even to access such products, it's a bit expensive for them because let's talk about the vaping sticks themselves. If you find them in the city, you'd find them around $34, which is very expensive for an average Malawian, let alone a woman. Yeah, thank you so much.
03:32 - 03:32
[Zuzanna Kopacz]
Thank you, Hannah.
03:33 - 03:34
[Hannah Chidaya]
You're welcome.