Brazzaville, 8 October 2007 -- WHO, CDC/Atlanta and Research Coordinators of 17 African countries have agreed to accelerate the Global Youth Tobacco Survey to prevent millions of deaths and disabilities due to tobacco use especially among the poor.

In this regard, the acting Director of the Division of Noncommunicable Diseases Prevention and Control at the WHO Regional Office for Africa, Dr Sidi Allel Louazani, has said that countries should gather reliable data, identify the determinants of tobacco use among youths and develop control programmes that take into account  the needs of youths.

He was speaking Monday at the opening of three-day workshop on Global Youth Tobacco Survey organized by WHO and CDC/Atlanta from 2 to 5 October in Brazzaville.

Dr Louazani stressed the importance of the survey for countries, WHO and CDC/Atlanta particularly the fact that it will help take effective measures to reduce demand for tobacco products and exposure to tobacco smoke.

Countries will use a questionnaire to gather information on the sources of tobacco supply and use and the effectiveness of measures for preventing tobacco use. The objective is to evaluate attitudes, knowledge and behaviours in regard to tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke in order to reverse current trends of tobacco use among youths.

Dr Louazani also urged the workshop participants to inform their respective governments of the conclusions of the workshop so that governments provide sustained support to national tobacco control programmes.

In addition, countries that have yet to ratify the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) should do so. The WHO Africa Regional Adviser for  Tobacco Control, Dr Jean-Pierre Baptiste, informed the workshop that 34 of the 46 Member States of the WHO African Region had  ratified the Convention.

Dr Baptiste added that this development was   not only encouraging but also reflected the interest that governments and ministers of health had in tobacco control. He expressed the hope that countries that have not yet ratified the Convention will do so by the end of the year.

In his remarks, the delegate representing CDC/Atlanta, Dr Charles Warrens, a specialist in demography, reaffirmed CDC’s technical and financial support to the WHO Regional Office in the context of tobacco use surveillance through conducting various surveys on tobacco use among the youths.

The four-day workshop was attended by representatives from Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Tanzania.

For more information contact:

Technical Contact:

Jean-Pierre Baptiste (+47241) 39310  baptistej [at] afro.who.int

Media Contact:

Flavienne Issembe (+47241) 39352  issembef [at] afro.who.int