Police officer, Emmanuel Maepurina, promotes a tobacco control campaign at a shopping mall in Honiara
Strengthening tobacco control
Tobacco kills more than 8 million people a year globally, including 1.2 million nonsmokers. Aiming to protect people from the health, social, environmental and economic consequences of tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco smoke, the Tobacco Free Initiative at WHO Western Pacific Regional Office supports countries and areas in strengthening tobacco control in line with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).
The Tobacco Free Initiative’s work is guided by the Regional Action Plan for Tobacco Control in the Western Pacific (2020-2030) agreed by the Member States in the Region for them to accelerate implementation of the WHO FCTC and attain the lowest tobacco use prevalence and the highest level of protection from second-hand smoke.
Regional Office support to countries and areas is also provided through WHO Collaborating Centres. There are four Centres in the Region which carry out tobacco control-related work.
