The meeting was held with the support of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Health of Russia, and was attended by the Director of Public Health Department and Communications of the Ministry of Russia, Oleg Salagay, the acting special representative of the WHO in Russia Dr Haik Nikogosian. The Convention Secretariat was invited to participate in the meeting and was represented by Rodrigo Santos Feijo.

Dr Nikogosian praised the Party of demonstrating global leadership in tobacco control by strengthening national legislation that was noted by the global community. He also stated that the recently adopted measures, in particular the ban of smoking in public places and protecting people from exposure to tobacco smoke and the new tobacco product regulations resulted in a 25% decrease in the tobacco consumption in recent years.

Participants from different regions of the Russian Federation shared their experiences in implementing the adopted measures, and discussed the challenges they face at a round table entitled “Cross-sectoral coordination in the field of tobacco control and NCD”. During the roundtable, participants attempted to identify a list of representatives of the various spheres of public and social life, whose involvement at the regional level will likely to contribute to strengthening tobacco control. These include representatives of sectors such as education, sports, transport, law enforcement, social protection, as well as religious and community organizations. Participants agreed that combating tobacco use requires an intersectoral and integrated approach, and also require expertise and resources from many different areas.The participants also defined a number of institutions whose participation and involvement on the regional level will strengthen tobacco control policy implementation.

Encouraged by the Secretariat’s presentation of the WHO FCTC progress, the participants praised the Convention’s unprecedented role in saving people’s lives globally.

For more details access the web page of the Ministry of Health (in Russian) at: https://www.rosminzdrav.ru/news/2016/12/13/3335-v-sochi-proshlo-mezhregionalnoe-soveschanie-posvyaschennoe-meram-borby-s-kureniem-tabaka-v-sub-ektah-rossiyskoy-federatsii

Also visit: http://www.who.int/fctc/mediacentre/news/2016/tobacco-control-russia-regional-international-experience/en/

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• Article 8
• Protection in indoor public places
• Protection in public transport
• Protection in indoor workplaces