Members of relevant government and civil society organizations from the region participated and shared their experience and expertise.

The WHO FCTC Waterpipe Tobacco Smoking Knowledge Hub (WTS-KH), and the Framework Convention Alliance (FCA) with the technical support of WHO EMRO, are pleased to welcome you to two consecutive workshops on November 6-7 and on November 8-9, 2018 at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon.

Check Below the

“Technical Report”

THE WATERPIPE TOBACCO SMOKING KH ACTIVITIES

The launch of the KH-WTS was held in November 2017 at AUB. This Knowledge Hub (KH) is the first in the Middle East and the third of the six FCTC knowledge hubs that aim at promoting and strengthening the global efforts of WHO and FCTC to curb the epidemic of tobacco use. The launch was attended by government officials, AUB’s leadership and administration and other researchers, experts, NGOs and stakeholders. The launch was held during the Third International Conference on Waterpipe Tobacco Smoking Research: “Translating waterpipe tobacco smoking research evidence into practice, policy and regulation” and a Pre-conference workshop on: “Dissemination and Implementation Training for Waterpipe Research”. This symposium was held in collaboration with the Syrian Center for Smoking Research, and supported by the US National Institute of Health.

A. Workshops
The WTS-KH in collaboration with the Framework Convention Alliance (FCA) and technical support of WHO EMRO, organized two consecutive workshops in November at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon:

Workshop #1: “Waterpipe Tobacco Smoking (WTS) Regulations & Challenges” on 6-7 November 2018.

The objectives of the workshop were:
1. To review the current global tobacco control laws and policies as they relate to regulating waterpipe tobacco smoking (WTS) and the extent of implementing by Parties of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) articles for that purpose.
2. To identify challenges associated with the enactment and enforcement of WTS control legislation in the context of different countries;
3. To discuss how evidence to date can guide regulation of waterpipe smoking in public places and the implementation of regulations that take into consideration the unique design of the waterpipe and its accessories and their use;
4. To draw a set of recommendations for future actions tailored for the identified regulatory specificities and challenges of WTS.

Workshop #2: “FCA EMRO FCTC Capacity Building Workshop”, on 8-9 November 2018.

The objectives of the workshop were:
1. To assist in a global strategy on prevalence reduction of tobacco use
2. To study the Illicit Tobacco Trade and Taxation Programme (ITTP) and FCTC Art 6 guidelines
3. To provide examples of evidence-based strategies on the implementation of Art 6 guideline and ITTP ratification.
4. To discuss the barriers and facilities for implementation of Art 6 and ratification of ITTP.
5. To discuss changes to the existing national laws and regulations according to the adopted Art 6 guideline and ITTP based on evidence-based strategies
6. To build capacity of the NGOs on how to collaborate and build effective national and regional teamwork on tobacco control.
More details on the workshop agenda, speakers and presentations are available on the website; please visit the following link: https://untobaccocontrol.org/kh/waterpipes/workshops/

The workshops were attended by policymakers, non-government organizations, and academics from the Eastern Mediterranean Region, who discussed individual country experiences across a number of themes: UK: Dr. Mohamed Jawad; Egypt: Dr. Mouhamad Madbouli; Qatar: Dr. Ahmad Almulla; Iran: Mr. Behzad Valizadeh; Jordan: Mawya Elzawawi; Turkey: Dr. Elif Dagli; South Africa, WHO FCTC Knowledge Hub on Taxation: Kristen Van Der Zee; Pakistan: Dr. Mohamed Javed; Oman: Jawad Al-Lawatti; Kuwait: Anwar Bou Rahma; WHO FCTC: Dr. Tibor Szilagyi; WHO Lebanon: Dr. Iman Shankiti; WHO Canada: Jean Tesche; FCA: Mr. Francis Thompson; AUB: Dr. Alan Shihadeh and Dr. Najat Saliba; Lebanon: Roula Moawad and Maitre Dany Rifaat

The workshops highlighted the importance of political lobbying and tobacco industry interference with public health policies such as transnational tobacco company interest in waterpipe tobacco like Al-Nakhla (Egypt) and Haggar Cigarette & Tobacco Factory Ltd (Sudan) by Japan Tobacco International.

The candidates emphasized on Chapters 10 and 11 of the 2015 WHO Advisory Note on Waterpipe Tobacco Smoking which outlines a comprehensive list of policy recommendations specific to waterpipe tobacco. The workshop drew a set of recommendations for future actions tailored for the identified regulatory specificities and challenges of WTS. Here are the participant’s recommendations and comments:  Involving more countries from the region  Breakdown of the policies and discuss each one alone  Introducing more discussions and Q & A sessions  Announcing a technical specific recommendation from the experts  Such as links, online resources, policy process documents  Focusing more on the technical knowledge and less on general concepts  Connecting the organizations with the Knowledge Hubs and government policymakers with NGOs on smoking issues  Concentrating more on success stories and pointing on the creative solutions not the typical ones

Waterpipe Tobacco Smoking (WTS) Regulatory Challenges Workshop Notes

Day 1: November 6^th, 2018

Day 2: November 7^th, 2018

Workshop #2 is on November 8, 9:  FCA EMRO FCTC Capacity Building Workshop; at the at the Diana Tamari Sabbagh Building, First Floor, TBL classroom, American University of Beirut.

The objectives of the workshop are:

1. Global Strategy, which includes an ambitious objective on prevalence reduction and identifies Article 6 as key
2. Provide an opportunity to the government delegates and FCA members to study the ITTP and art 6 guidelines.
3. Provide examples of evidence-based strategies on the implementation of art 6 guideline and ITTP ratification.
4. Discuss changes in the existing national laws and regulations according to the adopte art 6 guideline and ITTP strategies on how to introduce those changes and accelerate the ITTP ratification.
5. Make Governments and NGOs sit to gather on the same table and discus the barriers and facilities for implementation of art 6 and ratification of ITTP.
6. Provide examples of evidence-based strategies on the implementation of those guidelines.
7. To build capacity of the NGOs on how to collaborate and build effective national and regional teamwork on tobacco control.

Beirut, 8-9 November 2018

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