World Health Organization (WHO)
Year(s) : 2008, 2007
Grant Recipient Type : Government
Grantor : World Lung Foundation (WLF)
Project goal : To make progress in tobacco control in the SEARO region.
Direct Grant : No
Key achievement to date: Building a strong foundation for accelerated change in the coming years.
Objective
1: To achieve tobacco control progress
region-wide.
Major accomplishments to date:
- Worked to build government, NGO
and other stakeholder capacity throughout the
region, focusing on legislation and
enforcement. Efforts include strengthening
existing NGOs and enforcement and coordination.
Strengthening its own capacity through
organized training activities for WHO staff in
the region.
- WNTD events organized
in all SEARO countries with participation of
high-level officials and in coordination with
Ministries of Health and key anti-tobacco NGOs.
Public awareness-raising activities, such as
rallies, concerts, dramas and folk songs, were
promoted. WNTD received wide mass media
coverage in all SEARO countries through
electronic, TV, radio and print media. Work
began on a regional version of MPOWER.
- Inter-country workshop organized to share knowledge and best practices on tobacco control legislation. Joined teams from Bangladesh, India and Thailand in attending the pretest briefing meeting held in Warsaw in August. Organized a workshop on various topics related to tobacco and economics.
Objective 2: To achieve tobacco
control progress in Bangladesh.
Major
accomplishments to
date:
- Government, NGOs
and BI partners reviewed amendments to the
Bangladesh Tobacco Control Legislation and
compliance with FCTC. Reviewed and disseminated
the National Plan of Action for Tobacco Control
to key national stakeholders.
- River transports on several routes in Bangladesh have become smoke-free as a result of WHO advocacy with the Motor Launch Owner Association; discussions begun with local school authorities to declare primary and secondary schools smoke-free.
- One of the leading daily newspapers, Prothom Alo, began publishing anti-tobacco messages in its weekly health section. Advocacy activities with students and teachers conducted with the declaration of eight schools as smoke-free.
- Submitted GATS pre-test proposals; finalized questionnaire. GATS four-day orientation workshop organized by SEARO and the WHO Bangladesh Office, in coordination with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and CDC Foundation; GATS pretest conducted. Submitted full GATS proposals.
- Activation of tobacco control task forces and mobile courts at district level for enforcement of tobacco control compliance with smoke-free environments and increases in tobacco tax.
- Tobacco control advocates called for total ban on tobacco product advertising, promotion and sponsorship, as well as incorporation of pictorial health warnings in the tobacco control law.
- Advanced development of
school curricula on tobacco control issues.
Tobacco control as a life skill integrated into
school textbooks. Reached out to other sectors
of government, schools and universities, health
facilities and other institutions to advocate
for implementation and enforcement of tobacco
control laws at national and sub-national
levels. Course on tobacco taxation jointly
organized with Unnayan Shamannay.
Objective 3: To achieve tobacco
control progress in India.
Major
accomplishments to date:
- Compendium of rules and
notifications on the Cigarettes and Other
Tobacco Products Act complied and printed.
- Smoke-free cities workshop held in
Chandigarh to share smoke-free city experience
with stakeholders from other states.
- Press conference featuring WHO
officials held in Mumbai in response to a
decision by the Indian government to delay (for
the fifth time) implementation of strong
pictorial warnings on tobacco packs.
- Rally held in Madhya Pradesh in collaboration with ETV to raise awareness of tobacco control.
- Completed GATS
submission and full proposal.
- Revised rules issues related to
prohibition on smoking in public places; State
Tobacco Control Cells continued outreach to
authorities in the education sector about
compliance with smoke-free provisions.
- Supported smoke-free regulations
through strong public-awareness campaigns;
strengthened ad bans by monitoring at the state
and district levels. Advocacy workshops
organized to support state-level enforcement
and implementation of tobacco control law.
- STCC Assam worked with a satellite
TV channel to broadcast anti-tobacco stories
and messages.
- The Hindu, one of India's largest and most influential newspapers, published an extensive Q&A interview with TFI Director Dr Douglas Bettcher alongside 61st Session of the SEARO Regional Committee in New Delhi.
- Regional-level workshops organized in Chennai and Kolkata to sensitize law enforcement and other stakeholders in implementation of tobacco control laws and FCTC. Technical Service Agreements signed with implementing agencies, first installments released and trainings of trainers began.
- Multi-sectoral meetings
held on alternative livelihoods for bidi
rollers.
Objective 4: To achieve tobacco
control progress in Indonesia.
Major
accomplishments to date:
- Worked with Jakarta's
Department of Environment to organize meeting
for effective national coordination for
implementation of Jakarta's Clean Air Act.
- Undertook five-day mission to
discuss BI work plan for 2008 with
WHO-Indonesia office, and conducted bilateral
meetings with Ministries of Health, Finance,
Agriculture, Manpower, Department of
Environment, University of Indonesia, NGOs and
BI grantees to engage all relevant stakeholders
in the implementation of work plan.
- Assisted Indonesian Public Health
Association (IPHA) with workshop titled
"Understanding Tobacco Industry through Secret
Documents."
- Provided technical
assistance for ongoing Health Cost Study by
University of Indonesia.
- Worked with local authorities to implement Clear Air Act and with anti-tobacco stakeholders on advertising bans.
- Began study on crop substitution, funded by SEARO and WHO Indonesia.
- Counter-marketing efforts included an anti-tobacco billboard campaign in Jakarta for National Health Day.
- Training of 31 new tobacco control advocates covering 12 universities in western part of the country.
- Data derived from global tobacco control monitoring translated and widely disseminated in the media.
- Legislative Body of Parliament included the tobacco control bill in list of items for discussions in the 2009 Parliament Agenda; Ministerial Decree on Pictorial Health Warnings processed.
- A group of
parliamentarians, Ministry of Finance officials
and NGOs from Indonesia visited Thailand to
study the tobacco surcharge system. HQ
presented a draft of the Indonesian tobacco tax
document at a National Coordination Meeting on
the Economics of Tobacco Control and Taxation
for new excise tax rates and structure.
Ministry of Finance issued a decree for a
moderate increase in excise
taxes.
Objective 5: To achieve tobacco
control progress in Thailand.
Major
accomplishments to date:
- With South-East Asia Tobacco
Control Alliance (SEATCA), organized workshops
on implementation on smoke-free environments.
Monitored progress on the smoke-free hotels
project. Government expanded smoke-free places
to cover all food and drink courts, banquet
venues, pubs and bars, air-conditioned private
workplaces, and all forms of market places.
- Submitted GATS pre-test proposals; finalized the questionnaire; submitted full GATS proposals.
- Minister of Public
Health announced beginning of full enforcement
of smoke-free environments.
- High-level meetings with key partners to make Bangkok the first 100% smoke-free city in the country.
- Co-hosted National Conference on Tobacco and Health, which drew over 400 participants; presentations made on the MPOWER package.
- Provided training support to a smoke-free youth network and supported smoke-free public places in provinces.
- Technical Service Agreements signed with the implementing agencies, first installments released and training of trainers begun.
- Supported a tobacco
crop-substitution pilot project, to be
conducted by Ministry of Public Health in 12
provinces.