The first tobacco control coordination meeting has started today, April 24th 2013 in Kampala Uganda, hosted by the Ministry of health and Centre for Tobacco Control in Africa. The meeting aims at bringing stakeholders together to:
- Agree on a coordination model,
- Identify current and future activities needed to push the TC agenda forward,
- Identify Tobacco Control areas not supported and
- Potential partners and share priority areas by grant makers.
Officiating at the opening of the meeting, Dr. Sheila Ndyanabangi, the TC Focal Person, who represented the Ministry of Health, said that the Ministry of Health is supportive of the tobacco control agenda and appreciates the role of all partners in TC, hence the need for coordination. Additionally She stressed the need to work together under a coordinated mechanism in order to minimize duplication and tobacco industry interference. She underscored the need to have all TC partners to work through government since Government leads WHO FCTC implementation.
The key action points for day one have been; having one coordination mechanism with clear guiding principles, what to and how too coordinate.