PHA-Exchange> HEALTH PROFESSIONALS AND TOBACCO CONTROL: WNTD 2005

[WBB Trust]

Dear PHA friends
Below is the Rationale for World No Tobacco Day 2005. 
http://www.who.int/tobacco/communications/events/wntd/2005/en/

Syed Mahbubul Alam Tahin, WBB Trust.

HEALTH PROFESSIONALS AND TOBACCO CONTROL: WNTD 2005
The Tobacco Free Initiative proposes that World No Tobacco Day 2005 focus on
Health Professionals and Tobacco Control. The explanation of this rationale 
follows:
Introduction
In May 2003, the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC)
was adopted. One year later, at the end of the signature period -29 June 2004-
the treaty had been signed by 168 countries and the European Community, and
had more than half the number of Party States needed for its entry into force.
The good response that the WHO FCTC has received from the civil society and
governments is proven by the number of NGOs involved in the WHO FCTC
process, the number of tobacco control programmes currently in place around
the world, and the number of signatories and parties the Treaty has 
achieved one
year after its adoption.
The WHO Member States with their response to the Treaty have shown their firm
commitment to tackle the public health challenges posed by tobacco. The Treaty
outlines in its provisions the measures that countries need to take to 
achieve its
objectives. Issues as diverse as price and tax measures, cross-border 
smuggling,
illicit trade, advertising and promotion need to be tackled by governments when
designing their tobacco control programmes.
When governments are getting ready for the full implementation of the Treaty, a
continued support from the civil society is fundamental. The WHO FCTC in its
preamble especially emphasizes ‘the special contribution of nongovernmental
organizations and other members of civil society not affiliated with the 
tobacco
industry, including health professional bodies, women’s, youth , environmental
and consumer groups, and academic and health care institutions, to tobacco
control efforts nationally and internationally and the vital importance of 
their
participation national and international tobacco control efforts’ (WHO FCTC,
2003).
Tobacco control and health professionals
Following the WHO FCTC preamble, WHO convened a meeting in January 2004
with International Health Professionals Organizations' representatives to 
explore
ways in which Health Professionals could participate more actively in the WHO
FCTC process and how they could contribute to tobacco control/public health
goals. Health Professionals include not only medical doctors, but also other
professionals, like nurses, dentists, midwives, psychologists and 
psychiatrists,
physicists, pharmacists and other health related professions.
Comprehensive tobacco programmes aimed at controlling the use of tobacco
efficiently should consider to put in place a mix of measures at country and
international level. This mix of measures should include legislation and 
pricing
measures, but also prevention -through education, communication, informational
campaigns that raise awareness of the effects of tobacco on health- and other
demand reduction measures concerning tobacco dependence and cessation.
Health Professionals have a fundamental role to play in these ambits. They 
reach
a high percentage of the population. Health Professionals have the 
opportunity to
help people change their behaviour and they can give advice, guidance and
answers to questions related to the consequences of tobacco use, they can help
patients to stop smoking –especially those patients who have tobacco-related
illnesses.
Studies have shown that even brief counseling by Health Professionals on the
dangers of smoking and the importance of quitting is one of the most 
costeffective
methods of reducing smoking.
Health Professionals should also play a predominant role in preventive 
measures,
especially when considering the youth. They have the opportunity to promote
social norm change, and forewarn children and adolescents of the dangers of
tobacco.
Health Professionals should be the example that a healthy society reflects 
upon.
Many associations and establishments have started -and should continue- to
designate their own workplaces as smoke- and tobacco-free. Health
Professionals students that are trained on tobacco control during their
educational years become more efficient at identifying and treating patients in
tobacco-related issues, and are able to act as informers that can prevent 
tobacco
use and can support their patients cessation efforts. Adding tobacco 
control as a
part of the training and education programme of all health professionals can
result, ultimately, in a drastic reduction of smoking prevalence.
At the legislative level, Health Professionals can use their influence in 
their local
and national communities to encourage preventive tobacco control measures to
be put in place at country and at international level.
WHO is convinced that tobacco control efforts are more likely to be sustained
when incorporated into existing national, state and district level health 
structures
and linked with existing positions and accountability processes. Involvement of
the governmental health sector is expected to increase awareness among health
personnel and contribute to the development of sustainable tobacco control
programmes at the country level. Such a systematic approach will also pave the
way for multi-sectoral acceptance of tobacco control efforts in countries.
Code of practice on tobacco control for health professional organizations
Health Professionals that attended the January 2004 meeting (close to 50, from
29 different International organizations) were enthusiastic about this 
approach.
They presented and showed how, in most cases, they already had in place
similar approaches to tobacco control among their own organizations and
affiliates.
All the participants deliberated and created what they would like to be a 
standard
code of practice on tobacco control for their organizations. This code of 
practice
lists 14 action points by which Health Professionals themselves can 
contribute to
tobacco control, including the support to the WHO FCTC process. The code of
practice was adopted by all the representatives present at the meeting and has
been promoted and shared since among their members and affiliates.
The code of practice has been translated into 5 of the WHO official languages
(Chinese translation still pending); and other languages at the Health
Professionals own initiative.
Global Health Professionals Tobacco Survey
The Health Professionals agreed, and it was included in the code of 
practice, that
they should be a role model to others. By promoting smoke-free workplaces and
a smoke-free culture they should set the example to follow by their 
patients. One
of the aspects of World No Tobacco Day 2005 will be to conduct a pilot 
survey on
smoking: the Global Health Professionals Students Tobacco Survey -following
the principles of the Global Youth Tobacco Survey, in collaboration with CDC.
The development of the survey is already in place, with samples that will be
collected from 6 countries (one on every WHO region). The results of this pilot
survey will be used on the materials to be produced.
Leverage and dissemination
One of the reasons to have chosen this theme, is the possibility to use
information and resources from existing initiatives. Health Professional
organizations are aware of their potential role and responsibility in tobacco
control and several organizations have already initiated specific 
activities to this
extent. For example, a Doctors Manifesto for Tobacco Control was launched on
21 October 2002 , with the support of medical associations worldwide. Many
individual associations have their own codes regarding tobacco control (i.e.
Pharmacists against Tobacco, had previously to the code of practice their own
no-Smoking action in Pharmacies). This group in particular dedicated WNTD
2004 to "the role of the pharmacist in promoting a tobacco free future", 
including
the promotion of the code of practice adopted during the meeting convened by
WHO.
WNTD 2005 is a good occasion to leverage these efforts, and capitalize on the
outcomes and the enthusiasm of the participants of that meeting, disseminating
the outcomes of the meeting and adding new information that can have the joint
effort of different group of professionals towards one cause: tobacco control.
- Ends
Follow the international associations that were present at the January 
meeting, existing initiatives
and the code of practice approved by them.
Associations:
1. Asian Consultancy on Tobacco Control
2. Egyptian Medical Syndicate
3. European Forum of National Nursing and Midwifery Associations and WHO
4. European Forum of Medical Associations
5. European Respiratory Society (ERS)
6. EuroPharm Forum
7. European Medical Association on Smoking and Health (EMASH)
8. FDI World Dental Federation
9. Initiative for Cardiovascular Health Research in Developing Countries
10. International Agency on Tobacco and Health
11. International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH)
12. International Council of Nurses (ICN)
13. International Federation of Medical Student Associations (IFMSA)
14. International Non Governmental Coalition Against Tobacco (INGCAT)
15. International Pharmaceutical Federation
16. International Society of Nurses in Cancer Care
17. International Union Against Cancer
18. International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease
19. Medical Women’s International Association
20. National Centre for Problems of Healthy Lifestyle Development
21. Nurses Network Against Tobacco and Substance Abuse of Thailand
22. SEARPharm Forum
23. Sindicato Médico del Uruguay
24. World Federation of Chiropractic
25. World Heart Federation
26. World Medical Association
27. World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA)
28. World Self-Medication Industry (WSMI)
29. World Vision International
Initiatives:
http://www.adra.org/images/AADRA/FirstMonday604.pdf
http://www.worldheart.org/pdf/activities.advocacy.tobacco.code.practice.pdf
http://www.globalfamilydoctor.com/publications/news/april_2004/resource2.htm
http://www.fip.org/pharmacistsagainsttobacco/2004WNTDFIPCampaign.pdf
http://www.ensp.org/projects.cfm#
http://doctorsmanifesto.org/
http://www.wfc.org/english/view_page.asp?record_id=29 (WFC's Chiropractors 
Against
Tobacco: Wellness Project)
Code of Practice
Code of practice on tobacco control for health professional organizations
Preamble: In order to contribute actively to the reduction of tobacco 
consumption and include
tobacco control in the public health agenda at national, regional and 
global levels, it is hereby
agreed that health professional organizations will:
1. Encourage and support their members to be role models by not using 
tobacco and by
promoting a tobacco-free culture.
2. Assess and address the tobacco consumption patterns and tobacco-control 
attitudes of their
members through surveys and the introduction of appropriate policies.
3. Make their own organizations’ premises and events tobacco-free and 
encourage their
members to do the same.
4. Include tobacco control in the agenda of all relevant health-related 
congresses and
conferences.
5. Advise their members to routinely ask patients and clients about tobacco 
consumption and
exposure to tobacco smoke –using evidence-based approaches and best 
practices–, give
advice on how to quit smoking and ensure appropriate follow-up of their 
cessation goals.
6. Influence health institutions and educational centres to include tobacco 
control in their
health professionals' curricula, through continued education and other 
training programmes.
7. Actively participate in World No Tobacco Day every 31 May.
8. Refrain from accepting any kind of tobacco industry support – financial 
or otherwise –, and
from investing in the tobacco industry, and encourage their members to do 
the same.
9. Ensure that their organization has a stated policy on any commercial or 
other kind of
relationship with partners who interact with or have interests in the 
tobacco industry
through a declaration of interest.
10. Prohibit the sale or promotion of tobacco products on their premises, 
and encourage their
members to do the same.
11. Actively support governments in the process leading to signature, 
ratification and
implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
12. Dedicate financial and/or other resources to tobacco control – 
including dedicating
resources to the implementation of this code of practice.
13. Participate in the tobacco-control activities of health professional 
networks.
14. Support campaigns for tobacco-free public places.
Adopted and signed by the participants of the WHO Informal Meeting on 
Health Professionals and
Tobacco Control; 28-30 January 2004; Geneva, Switzerland
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