Within the framework of SESRIC’s Tobacco Free OIC Capacity Building Programme (TF-CaB), the Centre organised a Training Course on “Developing Impactful Awareness Raising Campaigns towards Reducing Tobacco Consumption” on 30-31 May 2022 through an online video conferencing platform.

Competent experts from the Department of Tobacco and Alcohol at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of the Republic of Türkiye and the Turkish Green Crescent Society (YEŞİLAY) provided the training course for the benefit of 47 experts from the relevant Ministries and national institutions in charge of tobacco control in 18 OIC Member Countries.

The training course aimed at strengthening the technical capacities of the participants in developing awareness-raising campaigns in terms of strategies, approaches and means to arouse strong negative emotions towards smoking, as well as highlighting the severe effects of its consumption.

The training course commenced with the opening remarks of H.E. Mr. Nebil DABUR, Director General of SESRIC, who highlighted that the tobacco epidemic, in addition to its impact on public health, imposes significant economic burden on countries, including the cost of healthcare to treat the diseases caused by tobacco and loss of human capital and productivity resulting from tobacco-attributable morbidity and mortality. Mr. DABUR also emphasized that sustained large-scale campaigns can efficiently drive millions to quit smoking, prevent the initiation of new smokers, and create an enabling environment for policy change.

In his welcoming remarks, H.E. Mr. M. Nurullah ATALAN, General Manager of the Turkish Green Crescent Society (YEŞİLAY) stressed the critical role of cooperation on addiction prevention strategies at the global level by stating that the tobacco addiction is a global issue that requires a global solution and that the addiction prevention policies of individual countries positively or negatively affect each other in their region and the world.

Dr. Yüksel DENLİ, Director of the Tobacco and Alcohol Department at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of the Republic of Türkiye, highlighted the success and good practices of Türkiye in implementing the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which was prepared under the umbrella of the World Health Organization to prevent the global tobacco epidemic. He also briefed the participants on their awareness measures, which constitute one of the most important tools in achieving tobacco control goals.

The Tobacco Free OIC Capacity Building Programme (TF-CaB) was developed and initiated by SESRIC in 2010 in response to the spread of the tobacco epidemic in the OIC Member Countries. Within this framework, the Centre organises capacity-building activities for the benefit of the staff of the relevant national institutions in charge of tobacco control in the OIC Member Countries by using various modalities such as training courses, training workshops, and study visits. For more information on SESRIC’s Tobacco Free OIC Capacity Building Programme (TF-CaB), please visit: https://www.sesric.org/cbp-tfo.php

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