While the initial amount awarded in 2009 was $7 million, the amount now mentioned on the Foundation's site is $7,884,847 (+12.64%). It's good news, but how and why this increase? Does it represent the interests of the invested money?
American Cancer Society - Atlanta
Date: November 2009
Purpose: to promote evidence-based tobacco control in Sub-Saharan Africa in order to prevent an epidemic of tobacco-caused death and disease in the region
Amount: $7,884,847
Term: 5 years and 1 month
Topic: Tobacco
Region Served: Africa, Global
Program: Global Health
Grantee Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Grantee Web site: http://www.cancer.org
http://www.gatesfoundation.org/Grants-2009/Pages/American-Cancer-Society-Atlanta-OPP1007158.aspx
American Cancer Society Receives $7 Million From Gates Foundation to Tackle Tobacco Use in Africa
The American Cancer Society has announced a $7 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to coordinate and lead a global coalition of public health organizations that will use evidence-based approaches to address the tobacco epidemic in Africa.
The African Tobacco Control Consortium, whose members include ACS, the Africa Tobacco Control Regional Initiative, the Africa Tobacco Control Alliance, the Framework Convention Alliance, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, and the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, will work to advance an ambitious tobacco control agenda across the forty-six countries of sub-Saharan Africa through policies such as banning advertisments for tobacco products, raising tobacco taxes, issuing product warning labels, and promoting smoke-free environments in line with the requirements of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The consortium will also advocate for further tobacco control resources in the region, work to protect existing laws from tobacco industry efforts to overturn them, and conduct research to improve and inform future tobacco control work.
In Africa, a part of the world where HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other infectious diseases are widespread, cancer is emerging as a serious public health threat. According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, much of the rise is attributable to tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke. According to the World Health Organization, tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death in the world, but if current trends continue, tobacco use will cause one billion deaths worldwide during the twenty-first century.
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