At a high-level stakeholder engagement meeting held at the Kampala Golden Tulip Hotel on October 24th 2018, the Center for Tobacco control in Africa (CTCA) launched the tobacco control capacity-building programme (TCCP) in Uganda.

The meeting was opened by Dr. Hafsa Lukwata, the National Tobacco Control Focal Person who emphasized the need for tobacco control training and collaboration in Uganda. During the meeting, Prof. Linda Bauld, the Deputy Director of the UK Center for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies, who is also the TCCP Lead Investigator  gave a global overview of the programme while Kellen Nyamurungi, a Co-Principal Investigator talked about the current status of tobacco control in Uganda. The programme was launched by Honorable Lawrence Bategeka, the Vice Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on National Economy and Member of Parliament for Hoima Municipality. Dr. Denis Male presented the TCCP research plan for Uganda which focusses on tobacco taxation, illicit trade, and WHO FCTC Article 5.3 which aims at insulating public health policies with respect to tobacco control from commercial and other vested Interests of the tobacco industry. Going forward, technical working groups will be created to support the development and management of research projects under the TCCP in Uganda.