This magnum opus on tobacco control in Africa could not be timelier as we begin to confront the next global epidemic of noncommunicable diseases. Its 19 chapters and 12 country situational analyses carry the message effectively for all those who care to listen – governments, industry, health professionals and most poignantly of all, consumers, particularly today's youth. As this is a book on the African odyssey relating to a dreaded risk factor to health in world history, two timeless African proverbs seem apposite:

• “The choreographer has given birth to her child; it not remains for the child to know how to dance.” That is, there is no longer any excuse for not knowing how to proceed.

• “To prevent the branch of the tree sticking out dangerously from hurting your eyes, you must begin to contemplate that possibility from afar.” The epidemic is already upon us, not looming, so we must act now.

Anti-smoking policies have been developed and strategies mounted at global, regional and country levels, but the tepid response and lackluster attention paid to implementation have continued to thwart our efforts. The political will has not yet been consummated, and the shifting of the theater of “war” and skillful manipulation of unsuspecting nations by the tobacco industry continue to exact hardship on the expected impact on tobacco control.

Yet populations are acutely aware of the pervasive and devastating complications of the short- and long-term use of tobacco. A few may be ignorant, but many are simply indifferent or even defiant.