The Global Fight Against Cancer

American Cancer Society Holds Training for Latin American Tobacco Control Advocates in Mexico City

Participants at the American Cancer Society tobacco control workshop held prior to the 2nd SRNT – IAHF Latin American Conference on Tobacco Control in Mexico City.

The American Cancer Society held a workshop October 13-14 in Mexico City for 15 Latin American tobacco control advocates who have attended previous training programs provided by the Society. The workshop, titled Building and Sustaining Relationships with Companies for Smoke-free Success, was held in conjunction with the second Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT) – InterAmerican Heart Foundation (IAHF) Latin American Conference on Tobacco Control. This workshop served as a follow-up to the American Cancer Society University (ACSU) training program held in August 2008 in Boston, Massachusetts, where the topic of smoke-free worksites was introduced. At the October workshop, participants shared their experiences with smoke-free worksites since the 2008 training. It was standing room only at the October event as the participants were joined by 11 speakers who were previously scheduled to speak, as well as 14 special guests, from the Mexican Ministry of Health, companies, and other organizations, who asked to join in because of their interest in the subject. Speakers included representatives from nongovernmental organizations in Latin America, the Mexican Ministry of Health, the National Institute of Public Health of Mexico (INSP), the Mexican Institute for Family and Population Research (IMIFAP), and multi-national companies, including DuPont, GE, and Pfizer. In lively discussions with the participants, all of the speakers shared useful resources that the participants can use in their ongoing engagement with companies in Latin America. Those speakers representing companies presented their organizations’ perspectives toward – and initiatives around – workplace wellness. 

American Cancer Society Convenes 24 Journalists in Tanzania for Media Summit to Address Africa Cancer and Tobacco Burden

On the first full day of the American Cancer Society Media Summit in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 24 journalists from eight African countries engaged in discussions with experts from the Society and other global cancer and tobacco control organizations on the emerging threats of cancer and tobacco use in Africa. The Media Summit is generously supported by Oracle and the Canadian Cancer Society. Two American Cancer Society staff, Thomas Glynn, PhD, director, Cancer Science and Trends and director, International Cancer Control; and Evan Blecher, economist, International Tobacco Control Research, joined other tobacco control experts in making presentations on tobacco use and control in Africa, including Tosin Orogun, programme manager, African Tobacco Control Regional Initiative (ATCRI); Sverre Berg Lutnaes, senior advisor, International Affairs, Norwegian Cancer Society; and Lutgard Kagaruki, Tanzania Tobacco Control Forum. Cancer survivor Samantha Galliet, director, Campaigning for Cancer based in South Africa, and Haskell Ward, a representative of SEACOMM and an advisor to the Society, talked about the importance of survivor stories and advocacy in raising awareness about cancer. In group exercises, the journalists discussed with cancer and tobacco control experts the impact of various cancer and tobacco myths commonly heard on the continent and shared information that could be used to debunk these myths through media stories. In the evening, a panel of cancer control experts spoke with journalists about the challenges and opportunities involved with Africa’s growing cancer burden. The panel discussion was moderated by Otis Brawley, MD, chief medical officer, American Cancer Society, and included these other cancer control experts: Twalib Ngoma, MD, president of AORTIC and executive director, Ocean Road Cancer Institute, Tanzania; Lynette Denny, secretary treasurer of AORTIC and professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Cape Town, South Africa; Olufunmilayo Olopade, MD, FACP, professor of medicine and human genetics and director, Cancer Risk Clinic, University of Chicago Medical Center; and Serigne Gueye, professor of urology, University of Cheikh Anta Diop and head of urology, Hospital General de Grand Yoff, Senegal.

American Cancer Society Leads Delegation to WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Working Group in Seoul, South Korea, on Tobacco Dependence Treatment

 

The American Cancer Society was invited by the International Union Against Cancer (UICC) to head a delegation to the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) Working Group on Article 14 of the FCTC, "Demand Reduction Measures Concerning Tobacco Dependence and Cessation," September 2-4 in Seoul, South Korea. Thomas Glynn, PhD, director, Cancer Science and Trends and director, International Cancer Control, American Cancer Society, headed the UICC delegation and participated in the negotiations as part of a nongovernmental organization expert group. The American Cancer Society has been a key supporter of the FCTC process since it began in 1999.There are more than 1.3 billion tobacco users globally, and as many as 70 percent of them report that they would like to quit their tobacco use. The Article 14 Guideline will aid greatly in providing opportunities for these tobacco users to obtain science-based treatment for their addiction.The Article 14 working group that met in Seoul will have a second and final session in February in Auckland, New Zealand. After that session, the working group will then present the proposed treatment guideline for approval and adoption by all 166 member nations of the FCTC to the FCTC Conference of the Parties, which meets in November 2010 in Punte del Este, Uruguay. If the guideline is approved at the conference, it will go into force shortly thereafter, providing yet another option for more than one billion tobacco users to avoid the possible disease and death that follow from their addiction to tobacco use.

American Cancer Society North Africa Smoke-free at Work Program Attracts Significant Media Coverage in Algeria and Tunisia

The Smoke-free at Work (in French, Travaillons sans fumée) program in North Africa, supported by the American Cancer Society, has received significant media coverage in the region recently as a result of an American Cancer Society media workshop. The training was held in Tunisia in late April for program participants, including cancer and tobacco control nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and tobacco control youth advocates from Algeria and Tunisia, who learned best practices in communications and media relations. Several journalists attended a session designed to provide them with information on their region's tobacco epidemic, as well as the Smoke-free at Work program and the role that media have played in similar campaigns around the world.
Since then, media coverage of the Smoke-free at Work program in Algeria and Tunisia has included 13 articles in print media (11 in French and two in Arabic), 16 radio interviews by NGO representatives, and two features on local television news stations. In addition, Awatef Dali, a well-known Tunisian reporter with her own health TV show, has taped and will air an upcoming episode featuring the Smoke-free at Work program; the show will include some footage of the youth advocates at the media workshop training and an interview by our coordinator in Tunisia, Dr. Wided Ben Ayoub. The program will air August 13 at 4:30 p.m. local Tunis time on channel 7 (a national channel).

American Cancer Society Marks Second Year of the 'Travaillons sans fumée' (Smoke-free at Work) Program in North Africa

Youth tobacco control leaders with banners signed by locals in Sousse, Tunisia. The banners were used as part of a public awareness action to garner support for smoke-free workplaces in Tunisia and Algeria.

American Cancer Society staff convened 10 nongovernmental organization (NGO) representatives and 22 youth advocates from Algeria and Tunisia for a training program on communications and media relations April 20-22 in Sousse, Tunisia. This training marked the start of the second year of the Travaillons sans fumée (Smoke-free at Work) program, supported by the American Cancer Society. Travaillons sans fumée is a program supporting the efforts of more than 30 workplaces in Tunisia and Algeria to become smoke-free and protect the health of their employees. During the training program, the NGO representatives and youth advocates had the opportunity to share their media and communication experiences and learn new communication skills they can put into practice as future spokespersons for the program. Participants analyzed media coverage from recent campaigns for smoke-free laws, took part in mock interviews with a local reporter, and developed key messages they can use to inform the public about the importance of smoke-free workplaces. The NGO representatives held round table discussions with representatives of companies in Tunisia and Algeria that have gone smoke-free, while the youth advocates conducted a public activity in which they discussed the benefits of smoke-free areas with locals and asked them to show their support by signing banners. In conjunction with the training, a session was held at which print, radio, and TV journalists from Tunisia and Algeria met with international and local tobacco control experts to discuss the media’s role in providing tobacco control information to the public.