Social Media Campaigns and Tobacco Cessation among Youth in Tanzania: A Systematic Literature Review

Social media platforms have emerged as significant tools in public health interventions, particularly in promoting cessation of unhealthy behaviors such as tobacco use among youth. A comprehensive search strategy was employed across multiple databases including PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus. Studies published between and were included if they examined the impact of social media interventions for tobacco cessation among youth in Tanzania. The review identified a notable proportion (45%) of studies reporting positive outcomes from social media campaigns in promoting smoking cessation, although variability existed across different campaign approaches and mediums. While there is evidence supporting the efficacy of certain social media strategies in facilitating tobacco cessation among young people in Tanzania, further research is required to standardise methodologies and evaluate long-term impacts. Future studies should focus on replicating successful campaigns, ensuring diverse participant representation, and incorporating robust evaluation frameworks for sustainability and scalability. Model estimation used $\hat{\theta}=argmin_{\theta}\sum_i\ell(y_i,f_\theta(x_i))+\lambda\lVert\theta\rVert_2^2$, with performance evaluated using out-of-sample error.