Showcasing SDG Target 3.a in Parties' Voluntary National Reviews 

Thursday, 17 November 2022 | 14:30 – 16:00 (CET) via Zoom 

TO REGISTER PLEASE OPEN THE FOLLOWING LINK: https://who.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_S__t67mkSEGLdNrbgwLIVg

As part of regular follow-up and assessment of progress towards the SDGs, the countries’ “Voluntary National Reviews” (VNRs) share information on the progress, experiences and lessons learned in pursuing the SDGs. Including a reference to Target 3.a in a VNR is important to help raise awareness of the implementation of the WHO FCTC and it also contributes to fulfilling Specific Objective 2.1.2 of the Global Strategy to Accelerate Tobacco Control 2019-2025. Referencing WHO FCTC in the VNR also provides an opportunity to the country to highlight its achievements in tobacco control and allow fellow Parties to learn from each other. It also helps strengthen connections between the WHO FCTC and sustainable development by showcasing positive impacts of WHO FCTC implementation on other SDGs.

Last year, the Convention Secretariat published the “Guide for WHO FCTC Parties on including SDG target 3.a in voluntary national reviews” in six official UN languages. This webinar will build on the recommendations of that Guide.

The objectives of the webinar include:

• To inform the Parties about the process of preparing and submitting VNRs.  
• To raise awareness of the Parties on referencing their progress in implementing the WHO FCTC as part of their VNRs.  
• To promote engagement with health and non-health sector stakeholders in preparing the reports.  

The webinar will feature speakers from the United Nations Statistics Division, the Convention Secretariat, the World Health Organization (TBC), the Ministry of Health of Uruguay and the Global Alliance for Tobacco Control (formerly Framework Convention Alliance for Tobacco Control). The webinar will be available in all six UN languages.

The Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA) and the Thai Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth) are conducting a fellowship program – a policy-focused technical assistance opportunity for countries that would ultimately support the development, legislation, and implementation of a national sustainable financing mechanism for health promotion.

Planned for a March 2023 launch, the ten-month fellowship program will support two fellows per county (in up to ten countries) who have been nominated by their government to advance the development, legislation, and implementation of a national sustainable financing mechanism for health promotion.

Please read more about the fellowship program, fellow criteria and selection process, fellow responsibilities and application process, timelines etc. in the below linked documents.

Thursday, 6 October 2022 |  10:30 – 12:00 (CET) via Zoom 

TO REGISTER, VISIT https://who.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_QuFxrNH2RfC73hVXBDblgw 

The main objective of this webinar will be to launch the new publication of the Secretariat of the WHO FCTC: Implementation practices in smokeless tobacco control.  

The use of smokeless tobacco (SLT) is a global concern, and these products are available in the markets of nearly two-thirds of the Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC). Over 350,000 people die each year among the nearly 350 million SLT users worldwide. 90% of the burden of SLT use is in low-resource countries. Among them, most users are among the adults in African, South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions, but SLT use is also high among the youth in the South-East Asia Region. 

This webinar, with the participation of distinguished panelists, will also provide an overview of the status in SLT use and discuss challenges and policy options for regulation of SLT.  

Panelists: 

• Dr L. Swasticharan, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India 

• Dr Shalini Singh, WHO FCTC Knowledge Hub on Smokeless Tobacco and ICMR-NICPR, India 

• Prof. Rumana Huque, ARK Foundation, Bangladesh 

• Dr Jagdish Kaur, WHO Regional Office for South-east Asia 

• Mr Pranay Lal, International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union), an observer to the Conference of the Parties of the WHO FCTC 
   

The webinar will be conducted in English.  

The WHO FCTC Knowledge Hub for Waterpipe Tobacco Smoking, in collaboration with the Secretariat of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and WHO Regional Office of the Eastern Mediterranean organize a virtual meeting focused on waterpipe tobacco control science and policies.

The conference will share recent scientific evidence on waterpipe tobacco smoking with the intention to inform practice, policy and regulation.

The objectives of the conference are:

• to share recent evidence on interventions to prevent and control waterpipe tobacco smoking

• to highlight potential implications of current evidence for practice, policy and regulation to improve public health and population wellbeing

• to build capacity in knowledge translation for waterpipe tobacco control and strengthen collaborative partnerships globally.

To register to the conference click here.

Nothing for Us, Without Us: listening and learning from people with lived experience, a WHO Featured News Story, highlights six individuals with diverse health conditions, including rheumatic heart disease, Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, cancer, bipolar affective disorder and auto-immune disease and includes perspectives from Australia, Brazil, Lebanon, Nepal, Nigeria and the United Kingdom.

These individuals provide powerful expertise and evidence of why including the voices of people with lived experience is critical in the co-design of related policies, programmes and health services. 

Please find attached the communications launch package, including links to the films themselves below.