Niamey-December 17, 2015
Implementers of tobacco control in Niger have been called upon to be more vigilant in their work as they implement tobacco control. Dr Mai Moctar Hassane, the Inspector General of Health Services with the Niger Ministry of Health was officiating at the training of thirty tobacco control implementers and enforcers facilitated by CTCA. The enforcers have been trained in enforcement and compliance as guided by the tobacco control legislation.
Niger ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2005 and adopted a compliant legislation in 2006. To date, while some aspects of the law have been implemented, there are still some gaps. This training was therefore aimed at reinforcing the skills and capacity of the implementers and to support them to come up with a coordinated action plan for enforcement. The training also provided an opportunity to the implementers to review their law and identify the various aspects that need to be strengthened in terms compliance.
The participants were drawn from all the relevant government departments and Ministries responsible for enforcing tobacco control including Finance, Customs, Internal Affairs, Defense, Sanitary police, Commerce, Transport, Education, and Justice. Others included media representatives, and Civil Society organizations.
The enforcers developed a joint action plan for enforcement focusing on promotion of smoke free environments, prohibition of sale to and by minors and well as monitoring the compliance of the tobacco industry to the various aspects of the law like Pictorial Health Warnings.
At the end of the training, the enforcers established a coordination mechanism for enforcers, to be chaired by the Ministry of Health.