Botswana Awarded for Tobacco Control
Botswana received an integrity award from the World Health Organization for reaching a milestone in its tobacco control efforts, reports Xinhua News.
The award was given at the 10th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP10) to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which is being held in Panama Feb. 5 to Feb. 10.
“The award was in specific recognition of Botswana’s efforts to safeguard public health by ensuring that there was no undue influence or pressure from the tobacco industry, in any of its public health policy formulation or implementation processes, in line with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC),” said Christopher Nyanga, Botswana’s health ministry spokesperson.
Botswana’s Tobacco Control Act strictly prohibits any form of contributions or corporate social responsibility initiatives from the tobacco industry.