Tobacco Control in The Gambia reached another milestone with new members being elected onto the National Tobacco Control Committee.
A total of 32 new committee members were nominated by different ministries and departments and then appointed by the Ministry of Health. Their appointment took place in November 2020.
The new members were then invited to a two day meeting to understand their new roles and the current tobacco situation in The Gambia. The meeting briefed the new members activities that were done in the previous quarters. It also helped to orient them about the Tobacco Control (TC) Act and Regulations while acting as a refresher for existing members.
This meeting was made possible by funding from the Centre for Tobacco Control in Africa. The CTCA supports capacity development for tobacco control in The Gambia as well as six other countries on the continent.
According to The Gambia’s Tobacco Control Act, the members will be in office for three years and will only be able to be re-elected for one more term.
The committee is the National Coordinating Mechanism to ensure that the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control is effectively implemented.
In addition to implementing the Act, its guidelines and protocols, it will also coordinate and monitor tobacco control interventions and advise the Minister on policies and legislative measures.
The meeting decided to have a joint operation that will conduct a quarterly monitoring and enforcement of the TC Act. It will also validate the draft TC Policy