[Ip-health] American Cancer Society Receives $7 Million From Gates Foundation to Tackle Tobacco Use in Africa

[Joana Ramos]

http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=3D284500015

American Cancer Society Receives $7 Million From Gates Foundation to
Tackle Tobacco Use in Africa

The American Cancer Society has announced a $7 million grant from the
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to coordinate and lead a global
coalition of public health organizations that will use evidence-based
approaches to address the tobacco epidemic in Africa.

The African Tobacco Control Consortium, whose members include ACS, the
Africa Tobacco Control Regional Initiative, the Africa Tobacco Control
Alliance, the Framework Convention Alliance, the Campaign for
Tobacco-Free Kids, and the International Union Against Tuberculosis and
Lung Disease, will work to advance an ambitious tobacco control agenda
across the forty-six countries of sub-Saharan Africa through policies
such as banning advertisments for tobacco products, raising tobacco
taxes, issuing product warning labels, and promoting smoke-free
environments in line with the requirements of the WHO Framework
Convention on Tobacco Control. The consortium will also advocate for
further tobacco control resources in the region, work to protect
existing laws from tobacco industry efforts to overturn them, and
conduct research to improve and inform future tobacco control work.

In Africa, a part of the world where HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other
infectious diseases are widespread, cancer is emerging as a serious
public health threat. According to the International Agency for Research
on Cancer, much of the rise is attributable to tobacco use and exposure
to secondhand smoke. According to the World Health Organization, tobacco
is the leading cause of preventable death in the world, but if current
trends continue, tobacco use will cause one billion deaths worldwide
during the twenty-first century.

"We are excited to be part of this important new effort," said American
Cancer Society CEO John R. Seffrin. "Tobacco companies have begun to
target developing countries as tobacco control efforts in high-resource
countries have yielded tough restrictions, and we will make sure that
the countries in sub-Saharan Africa have the information and tools to
protect their citizens from preventable diseases and death caused by
tobacco."

=93American Cancer Society to Manage New Effort Against Tobacco in
Africa.=94 American Cancer Society Press Release 2/04/10.



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Joana Ramos, MSW
Cancer Resources & Advocacy
Seattle WA USA
+1-206-229-2420
http://ramoslink.info/
www.bmtbasics.org
http://healthwatched.org