A tobacco control capacity assessment exercise is currently under way in Angola to help the government identify thecountry’sabilitytoimplement tobaccocontrol, based on the WHO FrameworkConventiononTobaccoControl(WHO FCTC).
The assessment is jointly carried out by the government of Angola with technical support from the World Health organization, ( WHO) and the Centre for Tobacco Control in Africa ( CTCA).
The exercise, that run from July 15-19, 2013 seekstogenerate informationon: thetobaccocontrolinterventionsinthecountry, thestrengthsandopportunitiesofthecountryregarding tobaccocontrol; as well as thegaps intobaccocontrolefforts. The team of experts, basing on the findings, and experiences in other countries and the WHO FCTC guidelines, will thenmakerecommendationsonhow best tobaccocontrolcanbestrengthened in Angola. Angola signed the WHO FCTC on June 29, 2004 and ratified the treaty on September 20, 2007.
The exercise is spearheaded by the Ministry of Health, led by Dr. Filomena Wilson, the tobacco control Focal Person at the Ministry. The WHO and CTCA team comprises of Dr. Vinayak Prasad, WHO TFI, Prof. Robert Machang’u, WHO AFRO Dr. Possy Mugyenyi, the Manager Centre for Tobacco Control in Africa,Mr. Francisco Cabo, a WHO consultant, Dr. Sidi Mohamed and Ms. Jenninah Kabiswa from CTCA. At the end of the exercise, the team will hold a sensitization meeting for key tobacco control stakeholders from the government, partners, civil society and the media and will also present the findings and recommendations to them..
During the exercise, the International and Local experts have met strategic stakeholders including the Minister of Social Communication, Minister of Family and Women promotion, Minister of Education, Secretary of State for Ministry of Health, Secretary of State for Human Rights, Secretary of State for External Affairs , The National Assembly, and the UNDP.
The CTCA Portuguese website; http://ctc-africa.org/pt/ will also be launched during the dissemination exercise on Friday July 19, 2013.
TheCentreforTobaccoControlinAfrica(CTCA)ismandated toleadprocesses thatbuildcapacityfortobaccocontrolinAfricangovernments.Inorderto accomplishthat,CTCAavailsresourcesandtoolkits,providestechnicalsupport, informationawarenessandskillsdevelopmentinterventions.