Africa Tobacco Control Regional Initiative (ATCRI)

“This is my first participation to a workshop that analyses and explains key FCTC articles. This has deepened my knowledge on the subject and provided me with more reasons to commit to tobacco control in my country."

—Paul Ebusu, Prevention of Alcohol and Drug Abuse in Uganda

Masaka, Uganda – The Uganda National Tobacco Control Association (UNTCA) hosted a 4-day tobacco control leadership capacity-building workshop from September 28 to October 1, 2011 in Masaka, Uganda. The workshop aimed to “identify and support a new generation of leaders in tobacco control and equip them with skills and resources for effective advocacy in the country.”

Sponsored and co-facilitated by the Africa Tobacco Control Consortium (ATCC), the training gathered 25 Ugandan tobacco control stakeholders from the Ministry of Health, World Health Organization (WHO), civil society organizations, journalists, and staff of the newly created Centre for Tobacco Control in Africa (CTCA).

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By Jeannine Stein, Los Angeles Times / For the Booster Shots blog

If smoking rates stay at current levels, smoking could create 18 million extra cases of tuberculosis worldwide and 40 million excess deaths from the disease by 2050, a study finds.

Researchers produced mathematical models based on various smoking rate scenarios to estimate rates of tuberculosis disease and deaths in each World Health Organization region around the world. The baseline scenario used current smoking levels to come up with the 18 million and 40 million numbers; right now, almost 20% of people worldwide smoke tobacco, and that figure may rise in some poor countries, the study authors said.

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