Top speakers will present the latest developments in tobacco control and global efforts to reduce tobacco use in all its forms at a conference in Abu Dhabi next month.

The 16th World Conference on Tobacco or Health (WCTOH), under the theme ‘Tobacco and Non-communicable Diseases,’ will run from March 17 to 21 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.

The speakers will include Princess Dina Mired of Jordan, World Health Organization director-general Dr Margaret Chan, and Michael R Bloomberg.

The conference will also present the latest findings on electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) - also known as e-cigarettes - and particular challenges faced by the UAE and the region - namely shisha and waterpipe use.
 
It will recognise that tobacco use in all its forms is the greatest risk factor contributing to the occurrence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including cancer, cardiovascular problems, lung disease and diabetes.

Tobacco use now causes one in six of all NCD deaths and up to half of current tobacco users will eventually die of a tobacco-related disease. This is the first time the WCTOH conference has focussed on this direct link between tobacco and NCDs.



“Tobacco control ranks among the most effective preventive tools ever developed by public health. The lives it saves number in the millions. Tobacco control benefits from the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which gives its 180 Parties a powerful legal instrument for fighting both demand and supply-side factors that influence tobacco use,” said Dr Chan.

“This conference will re-affirm the need to implement the raft of control measures contained in the WHO FCTC, such as eliminating illicit trade in tobacco products, increasing taxes on tobacco to reduce consumption, make all public places and workplaces completely smoke-free and implementing plain packaging approaches for cigarettes and other similar deadly products,” she said.



Dr Wael A Al Mahmeed, WCTOH Conference president, said: “The conference’s theme of tobacco use and its impact on the prevalence of NCDs reflects the need to find solutions to the challenges we face in this area. It is imperative that the scientific community, the clinical profession and those directly affected by tobacco use, work together in integrating treatments, interventions and solutions to respond to the epidemic that is tobacco-related NCDs.”
 


The conference’s scientific programme will include discussion on global and regional progress on demand reduction measures of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), a global treaty that this year celebrates 10 years in force; MPower, a demand reduction package that supports the scale-up of specific provisions of the treaty on the ground; the effects of tobacco on young people; the economic burden of tobacco-related diseases; new developments in standardised packaging, taxes and subsidies; and the impact of tobacco use upon tobacco users themselves.

During the conference, members of the research community will present more than 800 scientific abstracts.

In addition, there will be 74 symposia and panel discussions; 20 workshops; two post-graduate courses on ‘Meeting NCD Targets’ and ‘Social Media for Tobacco Control and NCDs Prevention in LMICs’; and a Youth Pre-Conference, which will give this crucial audience their own voice in the fight against the pervasive influence of tobacco on young people worldwide.

WCTOH is offering more than 400 scholarships to attend the conference to delegates from low- and middle-income countries, including Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia and Pakistan.
 
Meanwhile, the Bloomberg Philanthropies Awards for Global Tobacco Control and the Luther L Terry Awards will honour outstanding research and contributions to the field of global tobacco control.


The awards were created to recognise governments and non-governmental organisations demonstrating excellent progress or achievement in the implementation of MPower measures in low-and middle-income countries.

MPower, established by the WHO as part of the implementation plan for FCTC, describes six of the most effective tobacco control policies: Monitoring the epidemic and prevention policies; Protecting people from second-hand smoke; Offering help to people want to quit; Warning about the dangers of tobacco; Enforcing bans on advertising, promotion and sponsorship; Raising taxes and prices. A panel of global tobacco control experts will select the awardees. 
 


The American Cancer Society’s Luther L Terry Awards (named for the late US Surgeon General, Luther L Terry, MD, whose ground-breaking work established the foundation for public health scrutiny of the dangers of tobacco use) will also be presented every three years in conjunction with the WCTOH. 

These awards recognise outstanding worldwide achievement in the field of tobacco control in six categories - Outstanding Individual Leadership; Outstanding Organisation; Outstanding Research Contribution; Exemplary Leadership by a Government Ministry; Distinguished Career; and Outstanding Community Service.  - TradeArabia News Service