This World No Tobacco Month, NCAS hosted a Hookah Epidemic Workshop Addressing The Rise of Youth Smoking.
As organisations in tobacco control held various events globally in commemoration of World No Tobacco Day, the National Council Against Smoking took it’s advocacy actions to grassroot level, focusing on the concerning trend of children and young people using hookah pipes in South African townships.
In collaboration with Riverlea Civic Association, NCAS organized a community leaders’ workshop aimed at addressing the escalating Hookah epidemic prevelant in Riverlea and other surrounding townships in Johannesburg. The workshop was hosted at Riverlea High School on Saturday, 11 May 2024 the objective of the workshop was to develop strategies to combat the hookah epidemic among children and to equip community leaders with essential information to address the challenges they encounter daily.
Unmasking the Shadow: NCAS launches Social Media campaign calling on HPCSA to act on Tobacco Industry Sponsorship of Healthcare Education.
NCAS launched a social media campaign to create public awareness on the tobacco industry’s attempt to influence health professionals through the sponsorship of Continues Professional Development (CPD) training which was provided by Alliance of South African Independent Practitioners Associations (ASAIPA), an independent practitioner who is registered under the Health Professionals Council of South Africa (HPCSA).
The ‘Unmasking the Shadows’ social media campaign highlighted how sponsorship by tobacco companies compromises the South African healthcare integrity. Over the recent months, we’ve seen how education programmes for healthcare professional are being funded by PMI. This has taken place in the United States, South Africa, the Middle East and possibly other countries in the world. Not only is this contradictory to public health policies but highly unethical since PMI remains one of the biggest cigarette manufacturers, a product that kills over 8 million people, each year.
NCAS sent a formal complaint letter sent to HPCSA along with 55 other public health organisations. Though HPCSA acknowledged recipient of the formal complaint and stated they’d look into the matter, we are yet to receive feedback.
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