During the week of 20–23 January 2026, Corné, Zunda and Sam attended the Global Tobacco and Alcohol Tax Meeting held at the OECD Conference Centre in Paris. The event, co-hosted by Bloomberg Philanthropies and the OECD, provided a valuable opportunity to reconnect with international colleagues.

On 17 March, we will commence our third Tobacco Taxation 101 five-week online course. Registrations close on 9 February 2026, and we encourage interested participants to apply early.

Access to high-quality data remains central to our research work. After a year-long review process, we are pleased to share that UCT staff and students now have access to micro-level databases secured by the European Commission through Eurostat. These data provide access to a rich set of anonymised individual-, household-, and firm-level datasets, opening up new research opportunities.

We are pleased to share the release of ten new evidence-based policy briefs from TCDI South Africa, developed in response to priority needs identified by the tobacco control community. The briefs translate the latest data into clear, policy-relevant insights on key issues, including youth uptake of new nicotine products, taxation, enforcement, illicit trade, and tobacco industry interference to support stronger tobacco control.

Read the e-newsletter in full here.