Features

A perfect storm of factors has led to the rapid spread of Multi-Drug Resistant-Tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and a major effort is needed to combat the increasing toll of the disease. MDR-TB threatens to undo decades of progress and brings new urgency to invest in healthcare systems, medicines and vaccines.

Health Ministry Representatives from Botswana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda today joined a regional workshop to improve warnings on cigarette packs and anti-tobacco public education campaigns. The Centre for Tobacco Control in Africa (CTCA) and partners are hosting the four-day event that also includes representatives from WHO and NGOs from participating countries.

the Ministry of Health(MoH) and the Youth Union of Vietnam launched two new campaigns to help reduce tobacco use in Vietnam. A national mass media campaign, about the serious harms caused by smoking and exposure to second-hand smoke, features the new graphic warnings on cigarette packs and promotes compliance with new national smoke-free regulations.

Today marks the launch of the first-ever national mass media campaign to warn people of The Gambia about tobacco’s harms. Developed by the Non Communicable Disease Control Programme, Ministry of Health & Social Welfare, the campaign graphically depicts tobacco’s impact on smokers and non-smokers exposed to tobacco smoke.

Congratulations to CVS Caremark for ending the sale of tobacco products in its 7,600 stores starting October 1st, 2014. Peter Baldini made the following statement about this milestone for public health:

Maternal Health Program in Tanzania, will supply seven health facilities in Morogoro and Kigoma with medical equipment worth over $80,000 in the first quarter of 2014, in its continued effort to improve maternal health services.

(New Delhi) –– On World Cancer Day, we call for high level commitment on the part of government and communities to reduce the incidence of cancers caused by tobacco products, the number one cause of cancer in India.

(Sochi, Russia and New York, USA) ––Today, the Sochi Olympic organizers are urged to enforce regulations that prohibit smoking at all Olympic venues and restrict smoking in the Olympic Village. The 2014 Olympic Winter Games are the first-ever international games held in Russia following the passage of landmark smoke-free legislation in 2013.

A new tobacco control mass media campaign was launched this week to warn people about the effects of smoking on the heart. The 'Artery" campaign is being aired by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare depicting how smoking cigarettes and bidis leads to the build up of dangerous fatty deposits in the heart, leading to strokes, heart disease and heart attacks.