Niamey, August 10, 2016
The Centre for Tobacco Control in Africa ( CTCA) in conjunction with the Ministry of Health, Niger have held an orientation workshop for government technocrats executing health policies to educate them on their role in implementing Article 5.3 of the WHO FCTC. The workshop held at Hotel Sahel, in Niamey, also aims at empowering the custodians of public health policies with knowledge and skills of monitoring tobacco industry tactics aimed at interfering with public health policies; as well as insulating the technocrats against such infiltration.
Article 5.3 of the WHO FCTC states that ‘ In setting and implementing their public health policies with respect to tobacco control, Parties shall act to protect these policies from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry in accordance with national law.’
Officiating at the workshop, the Secretary General of the Ministry of health Dr Idriss Maiga thanked CTCA for the initiative in Niger to protect the development of health policies against tobacco industry interference that has manifested in various forms since the Government has adopted a legislation ten years ago. He said:
“ We appreciate CTCA’s support in building the capacity of Tobacco Control actors in Niger and supporting us to develop and adopt a code of conduct to protect public health policies against any forms of Tobacco Industry interference, as required by the WHO FCTC.’’
CTCA’s Technical Advisor Policy, Mr. Oumar Ndao stressed the importance of guarding public health policies against tobacco industry interference, adding that public health practitioners and the tobacco industry have irreconcilable interests, with the latter focusing on profit maximization as opposed to protection of people’s health.
He said CTCA is committed to supporting the government of Niger to fulfill its obligations including adherence to Article 5.3 of the WHO FCTC. Mr. Oumar noted that one of the key outcomes of the workshop will be the development of an implementation plan for Article 5.3 of the as well as a code of conduct to guide all government actors in the execution of their duties with regard to tobacco control.
The workshop held from August 8-12 is attended by government technocrats from the relevant government departments and ministries involved in implementing public health policies. One of the key outcomes of the workshop is a code of conduct to guide the technocrats in the execution of their duties and ensure that they protect public health polices against tobacco industry interference.