International collaboration to build tobacco control capacity: a case study of KOMPLY from the World Heart Federation Emerging Leaders program
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1
Center for Tobacco Control Africa, Uganda
2
Framework Convention Alliance, Cameroon
3
Nigerian Heart Foundation, Nigeria
4
University of Otago, New Zealand
5
Waterloo University, Canada
6
Healthy People Rwanda, Rwanda
7
Northwestern University, United States of America
8
McMaster University, Canada
Publication date: 2018-03-01
Tob. Induc. Dis. 2018;16(Suppl 1):A628
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KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Background and challenges to implementation:
Article
22 of the Framework
Convention on Tobacco Control calls for collaboration among the Parties and
international organizations to facilitate the development, transfer and
acquisition of knowledge, skills, capacity and expertise related to tobacco
control. International
collaborations are especially important to help counter the tobacco epidemic in
low and middle-income countries and will also contribute to UN Sustainable
Development Goals. We
will summarise the World Heart Federation (WHF) Emerging Leaders program, using
the case study of the KOMPLY collaboration
which focused on evaluating and supporting compliance with Uganda's newly
implemented smoke-free legislation.
Intervention or response:
As part of WHF's goal to reduce cardiovascular disease by
25% by 2025, an Emerging Leaders program was initiated of which the 2016 focus
was tobacco control. Twenty-five Emerging Leaders from across the globe were selected and
attended a WHF think-tank. Participants received education, training, mentoring
and the opportunity to apply for seed funding, to facilitate leadership and the
development of a new collaborative tobacco control project.
Results and lessons learnt:
In the 18 months following the think-tank, the KOMPLY team collected evidence that showed
poor compliance with the smoke-free legislation in Ugandan hospitality venues
(e.g. designated smoking areas were present, no-smoking signage was absent, hazardous
levels of tobacco particulate matter in venues that allowed smoking). This evidence is being used by the Ugandan government
to defend the 2015 Tobacco Control Act
in response to litigation by British American Tobacco. Outputs produced include
a factsheet and technical report for Ugandan stakeholders, academic articles and conference presentations. Team
members established working relationships with individuals from key international tobacco
control organisations, developed academic outputs, acquired new skills and
opportunities for further professional development.
Conclusions and key recommendations:
Initiatives
such as WHF's Emerging Leaders program can make a substantial contribution to building
capacity for tobacco control, through fostering international collaborations to
increase leadership, research and advocacy efforts in LMICs.