By Nyima Sillah
Previously, and for a long period, “tabaa”, a finely ground or pulverized tobacco was only inhaled or placed in the mouth by elderly men and women, who are known to place a pinch of the dark brown powder between the gum and cheek, allowing the tobacco to release nicotine slowly upon contact with saliva. This addictive practice is often adopted by individuals seeking an energy boost or stress relief.
However, in recent years, a similar powdered tobacco product (often modified by adding other substances) bearing the same name, taba, is in circulation and used mostly by Gambian women intravaginally for sexual enhancement.
In July this year, a local women’s leader in Gambia’s North Bank Region, who said the use of taba [for sexual enhancement] causes more harm than good to women, called for legislation against the practice.
Gambian study
While there is very limited research documenting the burden of this cultural practice, in 2022, two scholars from the University of The Gambia, and another from the University of Ibadan in Nigeria, conducted a study on the subject “to determine the prevalence and factors associated with genital tobacco powder use among women in The Gambia.”
The research was carried out in two areas of The Gambia: one rural (Farafenni) and one urban (Banjul). Focus group discussions and in-depth interviews were used to recruit (30) participants in the qualitative study. The quantitative study interviewed (400) women using structured questionnaire that was developed from the qualitative results, and most of the study participants were between 30-39 years old who were married.
The study shows that the prevalence (17%) of genital tobacco powder use was high among women aged 40 years and above in rural Gambia (Farafenni and satellite villages), the majority of the users 95% had non-formal education. Genital tobacco use was high among women whose husbands have travelled for 6 months or more.
Possible Health Consequences
According to Tobacco Control, an international peer-reviewed journal, little is known about the health consequences of using vaginally-inserted tobacco paste or powder, especially the systemic and dermal effects. However, based on what is known about the health effects of smokeless tobacco, intra-vaginal tobacco is “likely to have negative health effects”.
The health effects of oral smokeless tobacco use are well established, although they vary for different types of smokeless tobacco products. A report on smokeless tobacco and tobacco-specific N-nitrosamines commissioned by the International Agency for Research on Cancer has established the presence of numerous toxic and carcinogenic substances in smokeless tobacco products.
Several studies and systematic reviews reported an association between oral use of smokeless tobacco products and different types of cancers, including oral cancer, which has been explained by the dermal contact of the tobacco with the tongue, palate, buccal mucosa, alveolar mucosa, and/or the gingival mucosa.
Negative sexual satisfaction
According to a Gambian gynecologist, Dr Babanding Daffeh, the use of ‘Taba’ can cause negative sexual satisfaction as well as cause scars on the genital, and can also cause problems for pregnant women during delivery times thus making the stretching of the vagina difficult.
Though Dr. Daffeh noted that “Taba is not medically or scientifically confirmed to be used on the genital, we don’t know the content”, he said the substance can cause chemical dermatitis, it will also cause infection because it is never sterilised.
“Where the material is been placed is never sterilised, so it will introduce infection but it cannot treat infection.”
Where else in Africa?
A recent study in Zambia revealed that a form of smokeless tobacco product locally called ‘insunko’ has been used orally by older women for generations when bored and also to cure headaches.
Recently, it was reported that younger women use insunko with the belief that it gives them an ideal ‘youthful’ and ‘tight’ vagina, enhancing pleasure for their partners during sexual inter-course.
Women who use tobacco intra-vaginally have reported varied reasons for this practice, including enhancing sexual pleasure. It is reported that it is being locally prescribed for intravaginal use by some vendors as traditional medicine.
Research & Policy Implications
Although intra-vaginal insertion of tobacco is practiced in several countries, scientific research on this practice is scant and limited mainly to articles conducted without rigorous standards and published in low-quality journals.
