Dear Editor,
Tobacco alone is responsible for far more deaths than all other psychoactive substances combined.[1] Tobacco is usually smoked in cigarettes, cigars, chewed, or taken as snuff, even given as an enema and also as a means for providing communication with the supernatural world.[2] However, it is relatively unknown that tobacco is also used as a sexual stimulant in a few African countries. The practice of using tobacco leaves on the vagina to increase fertility and sensation during intimacy is widely followed among women in Gambia and Senegal. Yet references to “vaginal tobacco” are rare and restricted mainly to local publications.
This letter to the editor aims to raise awareness and stimulate research on vaginal tobacco about which little is known. A focus group discussion with women was organized by the Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA) in order to find out their familiarity with “vaginal tobacco.”[3] The outcomes of this discussion were alarming, as the majority of them confirmed that women of reproductive age in northern Nigeria burn tobacco in a native clay pot and squat on it so that the tobacco smoke will go into the vagina and aid in tightening the vagina. They also believe that placing tobacco dip in the vagina is a “miracle recipe” to increase sexual pleasure.
However, scientific evidence shows that exposure of other regions to tobacco smoke negatively impacts fertility and might also cause ectopic pregnancy.[4,5] Also, when tobacco is placed in the vagina for tightening, there is a greater risk of systemic absorption, which might cause damage to other body parts. There were countless cases of women admitted to the emergency department in Senegal after losing consciousness following the use of “vaginal tobacco.”[5] Hence, it is imperative for the World Health Organization to bring awareness to this new front of tobacco threats in African countries before it finds its way into other communities. Tobacco is a well-documented and unquestionable carcinogen. There is no safe exposure to this addictive substance, in whatever form it takes. At a time when tobacco control is a global priority, we argue that this deleterious habit merits more research attention.
Financial support and sponsorship
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Conflicts of interest
There are no conflicts of interest.
References
- 1.Ahmed S, Nimonkar RA, Sharma V, Pardal MP, Rajiva K. Study of the prevalence of tobacco consumption among apparently healthy adult males in an urban area. J Family Med Prim Care. 2023;12:3298–303. doi: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_872_23. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 2.Melczak M. Smoke and Mirrors: A Cultural-psychological analysis of tobacco use (Doctoral dissertation, Duquesne University) 2007. [[Last accessed on 2024 Feb 29]]. Available from: https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/918 .
- 3.Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance. Vaginal Tobacco: A hidden health danger for women, (2022) [[Last accessed on 2024 Feb 29]]. Available from: https://ntcang.org/vaginal-tobacco-a-hidden-health-danger-for-women/
- 4.Brotman RM, He X, Gajer P, Fadrosh D, Sharma E, Mongodin EF, et al. Association between cigarette smoking and the vaginal microbiota: A pilot study. BMC Infect Dis. 2014;14:471. doi: 10.1186/1471-2334-14-471. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 5.Djamessi FK. Vaginal tobacco’, a risky cocktail for West African women. [[Last accessed on 2024 Feb 29]]. Available from: https://www.scidev.net/global/features/vaginal-tobacco-a-risky-cocktail-for-west-african-women/