WASHINGTON DC, 25th May 2023 (PAHO) — Health professionals, researchers, officials, public bodies and civil society organizations from Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Panama and Uruguay have been recognized by the World Health Organization with the 2023 World No Tobacco Day Awards (WER).
Each year, WHO honors individuals or organizations that have made outstanding contributions to advancing the policies and actions of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in each of the six regions that make up it. Winners will be selected from nominations submitted through a global public bidding process. A maximum of six prizes are awarded per region, two of which may receive special recognition.
dr Reina Roa from Panama received the Special Recognition Award from the WHO Director-General for her 20 years of work to eradicate smoking. dr Roa is the tobacco control officer at the Panamanian Ministry of Health and Vice President of the Office of the Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products on behalf of America. He played a key role in ratifying the FCTC by Panama, the second American country to reach this milestone.
The actions of Dr. Roa also helped reduce the tobacco use prevalence rate among people over age 15 in Panama to 5.1% in 2020, the lowest in the region. The Panamanian doctor will be honored on May 27 at the World Health Assembly in Geneva (Switzerland).
ACT Promoção da Saúde and the Center for Studies in Tobacco and Health (CETAB) of the Brazilian Oswaldo Cruz Foundation received a joint award for their significant contribution to the achievements of tobacco control in Brazil and to the understanding of the socio-environmental impacts of tobacco cultivation and tobacco production.
Blanca Llorente Carreño and Luz Reynales Shigematsu of Colombia and Mexico, respectively, received a joint award in recognition of their long-standing contributions to tobacco control research and advocacy in their countries, in the region and beyond. dr Llorente, University Professor and Fundación Anáas Research Director, has played a key role in advancing the tobacco control agenda in Colombia and Latin America. dr For her part, Reynales, director of the Department of Tobacco Control and Prevention at the National Institute of Public Health of Mexico, has been coordinating the institute’s summer school on tobacco control for more than a decade, training several cohorts of Latin American youth for advocates, researchers, and decision-makers, among others.
The Mexican organizations Salud Justa Mx, Polithink, Coalición México Salud-Hable, Códice SC (Comunicación, Diálogo y Conciencia SC) and Refleacciona con Responsabilidad AC received a joint award for their tireless efforts and perseverance for more than a decade, campaigning for Deploy the implementation of Effective Tobacco Control Measures in accordance with the FCTC in your country. Mexico is the 24th PAHO member state to have 100% smoke-free public spaces, indoor workspaces, and public transportation; and the ninth, which outright bans tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.
The Tobacco Epidemic Research Center (CIET) of Uruguay and the Uruguayan Society of Tobaccoology (SUT) were awarded a joint award for protecting the use of plain packaging of tobacco products in their country, a directive adopted in 2019 and 2022 after that measure weakened by decree, both organizations coordinated with regional partners to warn of the potential risk of the plain packaging regime being weakened. The SUT filed an Amparo lawsuit seeking a stay of the decree and recently requested its repeal.
Tobacco kills more than 8 million people worldwide every year, one million of them in the Americas. World No Tobacco Day was established by WHO member states in 1987 and is celebrated on May 31st each year. Its goal is to raise awareness of the harmful effects of tobacco use and exposure to its smoke.
The theme of World No Tobacco Day 2023 is ‘Grow Food, Not Tobacco’. The campaign aims to encourage governments to end tobacco growing subsidies and use the resources saved to help farmers switch to more sustainable crops that improve food security and nutrition for the world’s population.