News Highlights
Author:
Wassim Mroueh,
Office of Communications,
media@aub.edu.lb
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Arab countries exchange 'lessons learned' from tobacco control
 | Nakkash said that the exchange helped researchers come up with more culturally-tailored policies
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Arab countries shared the barriers and challenges they have faced while implementing new tobacco control policies during a workshop held at AUB.
Entitled "Framework Convention on Tobacco Control [FCTC] policies and their implementation in Arab countries," the four-day event was held on June 28, 2010. It was co-hosted by the Tobacco Control Research Group at AUB, the Syrian Center for Tobacco Studies (SCTC), in collaboration with Framework Convention Alliance (FCA) in Eastern Mediterranean region, the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT), and Tobacco Free Kids. |
"It was an opportunity for us to learn how to anticipate potential challenges and find ways of overcoming them," said Assistant Professor Rima Nakkash, the coordinator of the Tobacco Control Research Group at AUB. "The fact that these other Arab countries have managed to implement tobacco control policies also helps us convince our own policy-makers that such policies are beneficial and feasible."
Nakkash added that the exchange helped researchers come up with more culturally-tailored policies that include programs to help smokers give up cigarettes or nargilehs, for instance. |
Lebanon is currently studying a tobacco control law, and researchers and lobbyists are pushing for one that is free from loopholes.
Participants and trainers at the June 28 convention came from Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, USA, Bahrain, and Iraq. They represented a variety of organizations that deal with tobacco control. |
 | The participants represented a variety of organizations that deal with tobacco control
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The workshop's main objectives were to identify the most recent evidence on interventions related to FCTC guidelines, specify main research methods needed for the monitoring and evaluation of FCTC policies, discussing application of FCTC interventions in Arab countries, sharing experiences of FCTC guideline implementation and developing a plan of action for participant countries.
Workshop sessions covered topics such as implementation of tobacco control laws, use of pictorial warnings, strategies to influence policy makers, and the water pipe, using regional case studies. |
Participants discussed future strategies to move FCTC-related tobacco control plans forward in the region.
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