[Webinar recording] We welcome you to register
for an exclusive media webinar in lead up to this year's World No Tobacco Day. Our governments have committed to achieve Sustainable Development Goals - SDGs - by 2030, one of which (SDG 3.a) is to strengthen the implementation of the global tobacco treaty (formally called World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control or WHO FCTC) in all countries, as appropriate. We need to ensure that the implementation of WHO FCTC is on track for the world to meet the SDG targets by 2030 or earlier!
Webinar dedicated to Yul Francisco DoradoThis webinar is dedicated to fond memory of our dear friend and fellow activist, Yul Francisco Dorado, who passed away recently. Yul was a strong force to challenge Big Tobacco and mobilize civil society as well as policy makers on a range of development justice issues, not just in Colombia or Latin America but globally as well. Yul continues to inspire us all and his legacy guides us in our humble efforts to strive for endgame of tobacco.
Industry interference in health policy is alarming
According to a WHO report, Tobacco industry interference with tobacco control, Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Director-General of the WHO, rightly described tobacco use as "a communicated disease - communicated through marketing." "The tobacco industry has used its economic power, lobbying and marketing machinery, and manipulation of the media to discredit scientific research and influence governments in order to propagate the sale and distribution of its deadly products" added this report.
Despite alarming tobacco industry interference, governments of over a hundred nations successfully adopted specific guidelines to check industry interference in health policy as part of the global tobacco treaty (WHO FCTC) in 2008. These guidelines, formally referred to as WHO FCTC Article 5.3 recognize that there is a fundamental and irreconcilable conflict of interest between tobacco industry and public health policy and commits governments to firewall health policy from industry capture.
With SDGs, WHO FCTC and its Article 5.3, and a possible new UN treaty on business and human rights, governments must walk the talk! Fully implementing domestic tobacco control laws and WHO FCTC (and its Article 5.3) on the ground is a public health and social justice imperative!
Experts from the Corporate Accountability International, International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union), Framework Convention Alliance (FCA) for Tobacco Control, and Vote For Health campaign, will present and respond to questions live!
Date: Tuesday, 24th May 2016
Time: 1:00pm Geneva Time, 12 noon London Time, 1pm Durban Time, 7:00am New York/ Boston Time, 4:30pm Indian Standard Time, 6pm Thailand time
(check www.timeanddate.com for your local time)
Duration: 60 minutesTo register, click here
About the Experts:
- Prof (Dr) Rama Kant, WHO Director-General's Awardee for tobacco control (2005); former President of Association of Surgeons of India (ASI); former Vice President of SAARC Surgeons Assoc.; former Chief Medical Superintendent, King George's Medical University (KGMU)
- [Presentation] Dr Tara Singh Bam, Regional Advisor (Tobacco Control - Asia Pacific), International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union)
- [Presentation] John Stewart, Deputy Campaigns Director, Corporate Accountability International
- [Presentation] Yvona Tous, Policy Advisor, Framework Convention Alliance (FCA) for Tobacco Control
- Rahul Dwivedi, Director, Vote For Health campaign, Country Coordinator of APACT Youth Action Network (AYAN) and member of GYAT
- Moderator: Ashok Ramsarup, noted award-winning commentator and senior radio programme producer, South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC)
- Co-moderator: Shobha Shukla, Managing Editor, CNS (Citizen News Service)
CNS Webinars Team
Email: webinar@citizen-news.org
