Within the framework of Tobacco Free OIC Capacity Building Programme (TF-CaB), SESRIC organised a Training Course on “Supporting Tobacco Farmers through Tobacco Control Programmes” on 13-14 February 2024 through an online video conferencing platform for the benefit of 48 experts and executives from Ministries and relevant national institutions in charge of tobacco control in 14 OIC Member Countries.

The training course was provided by competent experts from the Ministries of Health of Bahrain and Jordan as well as the Food and Drug Authority of Indonesia.

Dr. Kawthar ALEID, Head of Antismoking and Tobacco Group at the Ministry of Health of the Kingdom of Bahrain, delivered a presentation on the tobacco control policies and the role of healthcare workers in both governmental and private health institutes in Bahrain. Following Dr. ALEID’s presentation, Mrs. Nova EMELDA, Director for Control of Safety, Quality, Export-Import of Drugs and Addictive Substances at the Indonesian the Food and Drug Authority (FDA), provided an overview of innovative strategies for tobacco control in Indonesia. The first day of the training concluded with an insightful presentation from Ms. Dima JARAD, Smoking Control Focal Officer at Ministry of Health of Jordan, detailing the tobacco control programme, particularly focusing on farming and smoking cessation initiatives.

During the second day of the training, Ms. St. Claire SIMONE from the Tobacco Free Initiative at the World Health Organization (WHO) Headquarters, and Prof. Dr. Toker ERGÜDER, Programme Manager of the Special Initiative on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) and Innovation (SNI) at the WHO Country Office Türkiye, delivered presentations covering the following topics:

• The WHO framework convention on tobacco control
• Actualizing the provisions of Articles 17 and 18 of the WHO FCTC

The presentations of the training course are available at this link.

The Tobacco Free OIC Capacity Building Programme (TF-CaB) was 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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