REMOVING THE SMOKE SCREEN
CCT launches SARC-CCT to pioneer tobacco control in the region
Tobacco–the only legal product that gradually kills consumers when used entirely as intended continues to be an obstacle with its powerful industry.
The tobacco industry is a global entity and uses many tactics to engage new users, especially children and youth.
The global response to this global problem has been the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) of the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Article 5.3 of the FCTC mandates that member countries, in development and execution of their tobacco-related public health policies such as tobacco tax, ‘should act to protect these policies from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry under the national law.’
The Centre for Combating Tobacco
(CCT) is the Sri Lankan observatory hosted by the Faculty of Medicine, the University of Colombo under Article 5.3 of FCTC. Since its inception in October 2016, CCT has been monitoring the tobacco industry for three years in Sri Lanka.
SOUTH ASIAN REGIONAL CONSORTIUM FOR COMBATING TOBACCO (SARC-CCT)
In a revolutionary decision to expand the tobacco industry observatory to incorporate all South Asian countries, SARC-CCT launched and will function as a tobacco observatory for the South Asian region. CCT will provide technical expertise for the projects and will act as the coordinating body in the development and maintenance of the Centre. The International Union will fund the initiative against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease.
Organisations engaged in tobacco control and tobacco industry monitoring from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal and Pakistan will partner with SARC-CCT, generating a virtual network of tobacco industry monitoring bodies in the region. The inauguration was followed by a threeday capacity building workshop for the country focal points of SARC-CCT.
Global tobacco industry uses many tactics to engage new users To incorporate all South Asian countries, SARC-CCT is launched... it will function as a tobacco observatory for South Asia The tobacco industry in Sri Lanka has many reasons to interfere