Workshop discusses implementation of the Convention in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region

A regional workshop on implementation of the WHO FCTC was held in Egypt on 12–15 December 2011, bringing together 15 Parties to the Convention from the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region, nongovernmental organizations and development partners. The participants discussed, among other topics, progress in implementation of the Convention in the region, inter-country cooperation, and treaty implementation instruments.

• More information, including the outcome document, is available here.

The working group established by the Conference of the Parties on implementation of Article 6 (Price and tax measures to reduce the demand for tobacco) of the WHO FCTC met from 6 to 8 December 2011 in Geneva at WHO Headquarters to discuss the draft annotated outline of the possible future guidelines and to plan future work.

• Read more about the meeting here

Three major meetings held in 2011 led to joint commitments by global leaders to accelerate implementation of the WHO FCTC. The most recent one the World Conference on Social Determinants of Health was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from 19 to 21 October 2011.
Participants in the First Ministerial Conference on Healthy Lifestyles and Noncommunicable Disease (NCD) Control, held in Moscow on 28-29 April 2011, the World Conference on Social Determinants of Health held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and the UN General Assembly high-level meeting on NCDs, held in New York on 19–20 September 2011 led to declarations that all called on the need to accelerate implementation of the WHO FCTC by Parties to the Convention, and which encouraged countries that have not yet done so to accede to the treaty.

• More information is available here