The Knowledge Hub on Surveillance is organizing a webinar on 26 October 2022, at 15:00-17:00 hrs (CET), intended for health promotion experts, managers of health care and development specialists, and to all interested Parties.

The goal of the webinar is to present the evidence-base for the importance of the accelerated implementation of Article 13 of the WHO FCTC in the prevention of youth tobacco use, in the absence and presence of other tobacco control measures.

Moreover, the webinar will provide an opportunity to exchange information and experiences. The webinar is hosted by the Knowledge Hub and the Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health (JPHCOPH) Georgia Southern University.

Additional information about the programme can be found in this page, and those interested can register through this link. For further queries, please, contact the Knowledge Hub at fctcknowledgehub@thl.fi

On 11 July 2022 a new excise tax on heated tobacco products (HTPs) was approved in by the President of Kazakhstan, through the Tax Code 2022, in spite of the strong pressure posed by the tobacco industry on decision makers. The newly adopted measure had been reviewed and included recommendations of the Ministry of Health, the Secretariat of the WHO FCTC, the WHO Tobacco Free Initiative and the civil society.

Photograph: Ms Lada Bulakh, MP, member of the Committee on Public Health, Medical Assistance and Medical Insurance, providing a new sign to a restaurant, stating the ban on using HTPs, e-cigarettes, cigarettes and hookahs. (Photo courtesy of Slava Ratunski, UNIAN)

The latest amendments to the law “Amending some laws of Ukraine regarding public health protection from the harmful effects of tobacco” dated 16 December 2021 include some that have entered into force recently, on 11 July 2022.

The WHO FCTC Knowledge Hub on Tobacco Taxation presents a 2-track workshop on tobacco taxation. 

Tobacco taxation is a very effective and cost-effective policy tool, both from a public health and a fiscal perspective. This workshop will provide an introduction to tobacco taxation, illicit trade in tobacco products and tax simulation modelling. During the workshop, the policy challenges common to tobacco taxation will be explored.

This 10-day virtual event aims to support Parties to the WHO FCTC. Parties can choose to participate in one or both of the following workshop tracks:

•    Track 1 will be an introduction to economics of tobacco control with specific relevance for tobacco taxation. It will run from 5 to 9 September 2022. Interested participants will only be required to register through this link for this workshop.  
•    Track 2 will specifically focus on developing and tailoring a tobacco tax simulation model for each participating country using the TETSiM model. It will run from 12 to 16 September 2022. Participants will be required to apply for this track using the form provided here. Please, note that only a maximum of six (6) countries will be selected for this session. 

This workshop is designed for policy makers. Government officials from Ministries of Finance and Tax Authorities, Customs and Health are encouraged to join. 

The workshop will be carried out in English, and simultaneous interpretation will be available in French and Spanish. 

Kindly, please, register no later than 5 August 2022 and the Zoom link will be sent to you before the event. 

Find below the promotional brochure, with additional details.
 
For questions, please, contact the Knowledge Hub on Tobacco Taxation at tobaccotaxationkh@gmail.com. 

The McCabe Centre for Law & Cancer, which serves as the WHO FCTC Knowledge Hub on Legal Challenges, invites expressions of interest to attend the third edition of its online legal training course on law and noncommunicable disease. 

The course consists of seven online modules with accompanying live sessions, focusing on law and NCDs in the context of policy coherence between sustainable development, human rights, health, trade, and investment law. The course will be accessible for seven weeks and its content will take approximately 25 – 30 hours to complete.

The course is aimed at government officials in low and middle-income countries but other applicants are considered on a case-by-case basis. 

Note that the course will be conducted only in English, and participants who successfully complete the online content will be awarded a Certificate of Completion.

The course is free of charge for countries eligible to receive Official Development Assistance and for Pacific Island Countries, and there are a mix of scholarship and self-funded places for participants from other countries.

This year, the McCabe Centre will be piloting additional follow up support to participants who complete the course, for select legal priority projects on law and NCDs.

Applications are now open.
•    Deadline to submit an application: July 31 2022
•    Date of launch of the course: August 15 2022

Those interested in applying should complete the expression of interest form available through this link.  

For more information about the course, please, see the attached information note, including the nomination process. In case questions about the course arise, the organizers should be contacted at ILTP@mccabecentre.org