A lack of resources and interference from the tobacco industry make it difficult to strengthen anti-smoking regulations. Fastone Goma, a physician and chair of the Zambia Non-Communicable Disease Alliance, has been working for more than 15 years to pass tobacco cessation legislation in Zambia. Bills have gone to several ministers of health, agriculture and commerce,...
From June 12th to 16th, 2023, the Africa Young Ambassadors Summit (AYAS) took place in Cape Town, South Africa. This summit, organized by Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (CTFK) in collaboration with the African Tobacco Control Alliance (ATCA), brought together 24 young ambassadors from Kenya, Nigeria, Zambia, and South Africa. It aimed to equip young...
Statement of Leonce Dieudonne SESSOU, Executive Secretary of the African Tobacco Control Alliance (ATCA) For immediate release African governments must learn from the Kenya example and seek ways to collaborate with civil society and international organizations to promote better alternatives for tobacco farmers. Let us feed Africa, not the tobacco industry. Lomé, 30 May 2023 - This year,...
On World No Tobacco Day, WHO urges governments to stop subsidizing tobacco farming and support more sustainable crops that could feed millions. “Tobacco is responsible for 8 million deaths a year, yet governments across the world spend millions supporting tobacco farms,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “By choosing to grow food instead of tobacco, we...
Seventy-sixth World Health Assembly Strategic Roundtable As part of WHO's 75th anniversary, we celebrate the 20th anniversary of one of the key milestones in the history of WHO: the adoption of the first international public health treaty. The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), an evidence-based instrument, provides new legal dimensions for international...
Every year, WHO recognizes individuals or organizations in each of the six WHO Regions for their accomplishments in the area of tobacco control. This recognition takes the form of WHO Director-General Special Recognition Awards, World No Tobacco Day Awards, and in 2023, one WHO Director-General's Special Recognition Certificate. WHO Director-General Special awards Dr Odete Maria...
The initiative, supported by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO), in cooperation with the Kenyan authorities, is helping to “move the needle” on ending the global tobacco epidemic, said WHO. Kenya is the first country to participate in the scheme, which offers training to tobacco farmers so that they...
Nairobi - Hundreds of farmers in Migori County, Kenya will break free from risky tobacco farming and transition to producing more sustainable crops, through the Tobacco-Free Farms Project being launched today. Tobacco-Free Farms project is a joint initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Food Programme, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the...
Farmer Reginald Omulo walks between rows of healthy maize and beans, stopping to admire what he has planted. Like many farmers in Uriri Sub-county, Migori County, Kenya, Omulo used to cultivate tobacco. But no longer. He is now passionate about his family’s shift to grow alternative crops, confident that their hard work will be the foundation for...
WHO is concerned with continued attempts by the tobacco industry and their surrogates to further its interests to influence scientific research, public perception, policy making, and the media; all aimed to ensure proliferation and sale of nicotine and tobacco products. The tobacco industry continues to amplify misinformation in the media, including the recent egregious attacks on...
