Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention : APJCP
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Asian Pac. J. Cancer Prev. · Jul 2020
Improving Information to Enable Effective Tobacco Control Intervention and Measure Progress Over Time: The Cambodia Country Experience.
Tobacco is a leading cause of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) which kill about 41 million people each year. Of these, 15 million die prematurely between the ages of 30 and 69 years, most of which occur in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals and their targets under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development provides a new impetus for countries to accelerate tobacco control efforts as they specifically call for strengthening implementation of the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and striving to achieve a one-third reduction in premature deaths from NCDs. ⋯ The increase in timely and standardized comparable data presents new opportunities to set scientifically valid and achievable national indicators and targets for development and implementation of strong tobacco control measures. Cambodia is yet to establish national targets and full implementation of legislative measures. However, with strong tobacco surveillance mechanism in place, it can provide the country experience for a LMIC that has developed its own capacity to conduct periodic monitoring and surveillance of tobacco use and for using national data to advocate successfully for stronger tobacco control policies.
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Asian Pac. J. Cancer Prev. · Jul 2020
Investing in Tobacco Control: Twelve Years of MPOWER Measures and Progress in the Western Pacific Region.
Tobacco use has detrimental effects in the Western Pacific Region. The World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) came into effect in 2005 to address the global tobacco epidemic, and WHO introduced the MPOWER measures to facilitate implementation of key demand-reduction measures of the WHO FCTC at the country level. This paper provides an overview of progress made by countries within the Region since the introduction of the MPOWER measures 12 years ago, and examines challenges and threats hindering their further implementation.
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Asian Pac. J. Cancer Prev. · Jul 2020
Tobacco Industry Fingerprints on Delaying Implementation of Pictorial Health Warnings in the Western Pacific.
This case series describes tobacco industry tactics and strategies used to interfere, derail, delay, and weaken the development of effective health warning regulations in Malaysia, Cambodia, the Philippines, and Hong Kong. ⋯ The tobacco industry uses similar tactics in different jurisdictions to derail, delay, and weaken the implementation of effective health warning policies. Identifying and learning from international experiences can help anticipate and defeat such challenges.
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In the Western Pacific Region, more than 3 million people die each year as a result of tobacco use - a problem for health and a threat to social and economic development. Countries around the world made a commitment by adopting the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control of which implementation was then further facilitated by WHO's MPOWER package. Recognizing the importance of data as a powerful tool for tobacco control, this special supplement presents papers showcasing efforts by a number of Western Pacific countries and areas and data around these efforts to combat tobacco use and further advance progress in the battle against it. Despite the substantial progress that countries and areas have made in tobacco control, there is still much to be done in order to sustain the momentum to fight against this preventable killer and the industry which promotes it in our continued fight against the world's deadliest epidemic.