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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Frances A. Stillman, EdD, Institute for Global Tobacco Control, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 North Wolfe Street, Room W 6027, baltimore, MD 21205, 410 614-5378, fstillma@jhsph.edu
There is an enormous need for investment in human and institutional capacity for addressing tobacco control research and prevention needs around the globe. Currently, many developing countries lack the capacity to collect the research evidence and public health data needed to support tobacco control policy. Key barriers include: a lack of research and data-gathering infrastructure in many countries; inadequate expertise in epidemiology, biostatistics, and health systems; and a nearly complete absence of funds for research directed at the global control of tobacco use and tobacco-attributable disease.
National tobacco control capacity building involves a process of strengthening human resources and institutional capabilities within countries, which enable them to formulate, manage, monitor and evaluate comprehensive tobacco control programs. This presentation will address some of the opportunities and challenges involved in developing in-country capacity, including: the necessary balance sharing international expertise with the need for countries to define their own needs and priorities; establishing links between researchers and policy-makers to ensure that one sector informs the other; and identifying a wider array of funding sources including creative partnerships with corporate and other donors. Lacking expertise in tobacco control and even basic data collection, many developing countries are left vulnerable to the aggressive penetration of the multinational tobacco corporations. Technical and financial cooperation between states, non-governmental organizations, and intergovernmental organizations is urgently needed to ensure that countries are armed with the skills and resources to protect themselves.
Learning Objectives:
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.