The countries that participated are: Ethiopia, Eritrea, Guinea, Guinea Equatorial, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Rwanda, Seychelles, Swaziland, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. My question is: how were those countries selected? why? by whom? How much did the workshop cost? What about a cybermeeting instead of moving all those people? Information published by CTCA
Regional Workshop on Policy Coordination for Tobacco Control to Address TC Coordination Challenges 16-18 October 2013 Kigali
Kigali, Rwanda: 16th October 2013:- Countries to WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) met to for policy coordination for tobacco control at the 2nd Annual tobacco control coordination meeting for the WHO-AFRO region.
The countries participated are: Ethiopia, Eritrea, Guinea, Guinea Equatorial, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Rwanda, Seychelles, Swaziland, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe.
Dr. Jean de Dieu Ngirabega, the deputy director general of RBC institute of health for diseases prevention and control, Representative of the Minister of Health requested African leaders to work jointly to address priorities for tobacco control and raise awareness on how it affects human life. The meeting is aimed at promoting cooperation amongst the three key levels of tobacco control focal points in each country (the Ministry of Health , the WHO country offices, and civil society) in order to develop practical implementation plans to achieve country-level tobacco control policy goals in the near-term with the support of TC Partners.
Dr Ahmed Ouma Ogwel, the Regional Tobacco Advisor at the WHO Regional Office based in Brazzaville, Congo called upon the 14 AFRO countries from the Anglophone, Francophone, Portuguese and Lusophone speaking to accelerate the implementation of the FCTC in AFRO region. Accordingly, there is urgent need for countries to come up with concrete plans in order to jointly overcome the challenges posed by TC in AFRO Countries.
Several partners, including the Centre for Tobacco Control in Africa (CTCA), World Lung Foundation (WL) and Campaign For Tobacco Free Kids (CFTFK) attended this important meeting to provide support for tobacco control.
Center Manager Dr. Possy Mugyenyi introduced a new model of coordination already piloted by Uganda and promoted by the Centre. And Dr. Mohamed Ould Sidi Mohamed presented an overview of CTCA’ work and key achievements of the Centre. He highlighted some of key achievements as follows:
-Supported establishment of functional inter-ministerial coordination mechanisms in 2 countries – Angola & Mauritania;
-Networking Parliamentary NCD in Uganda;
-Established Virtual networking forum : Francophone and Anglophone held quarterly in conjunction with WHO AFRO;
-Creation of a coalition of media practitioners and journalists to promote TC in EAC countries (Tanzania, Uganda, and Rwanda);
-Model of coordination mechanism developed and successfully implemented in Uganda;
-Capacity Assessments in 5 countries;
-Provision of Technical support in Capacity/Needs assessment for Sierra Leone Gambia; Development of PHW IN Kenya;
-Support Capacity strengthening in EAC;
-Capacities Building in target countries: Health cost study (Uganda ) and Data to Action (Mauritania & Kenya), Tobacco Control Policy Training for enforcers (South Africa);
-Donors pitch in Uganda for UN Agencies and Bilateral Organizations to market CTCA brand and advocate for inclusion of Tobacco control in other programs;
-CTCA has compiled and produced a regional TIM report covering 13 countries;
-Toolkits developed and disseminated to partners and countries. They include;
Methodology for Capacity Assessment;
Tobacco Industry Monitoring Tool ( TIM);
Step by Step Guide to Developing Pictorial Health Warnings;
Data to Action toolkit for Africa;
Tobacco Control Communication strategies Guide;
Fact sheets to support countries meet their obligations under the WHO FCTC: Alternative Livelihood, Tobacco industry interference, Pictorial Health Warning and Tobacco taxation.
After the three days’ workshops, all 14 countries will go back with concrete steps and a promise to work together to implement the FCTC.
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