Archived News

The BMJ Group presented Professor Judith Mackay with its first Lifetime Achievement Award

Dr Judith McKay, who has been a champion and pioneer in International Tobacco Control and a preventive approach to health, is the winner of the BMJ Lifetime Achievement Award for her contribution to the fight against tobacco across the world and her "tireless and courageous campaigning on behalf of patients and public health care."

She was instrumental in developing WHO's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which places governments under international obligation to implement tobacco control policies.

Currently she works for the World Lung Foundation component of the Bloomberg Initiative to reduce tobacco use in low- and middle-income countries.

Awards were presented on 2 April 2009 at a ceremony in London. Speaking after the ceremony, Professor Mackay said: “Public health has always been the poor relation to curative medicine when it comes to funding and recognition. This award is therefore a great acknowledgment of the importance of public health in general, and tobacco control in particular.  I think my biggest contribution has been motivating and supporting others, moving tobacco control in low income countries from the very lonely job of a quarter of a century ago to one today involving hundreds of people."

Learn more about the awards >

Members' Workshop : Healthy Lifestyle Among Children

The World Heart Federation is organizing a two-day workshop to share experiences and expertise on programmes aimed at promoting healthy lifestyles among children and tackling childhood obesity.

Over the course of two days, the workshop will attempt to achieve the following goals:

• To present the rising problem of unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, childhood overweight and obesity, the possible burden on health, the need for prevention.
• To provide a state of the art knowledge review of different types of interventions.
• To work on case studies in different geographies and socio-cultural settings. Potential themes will include the following: sport and physical activity; healthy nutrition; pre-schoolers.
• To provide practical training on monitoring and evaluation methods.
• To facilitate discussions and the exchange of best practices between members from around the world.

Application form and further details are available in the members-only section >

2009 Luther L. Terry Award (American Cancer Society)

This year’s Luther L. Terry awards were presented in six categories: Distinguished Career Award, Exemplary Leadership by a Government Ministry, Outstanding Individual Leadership, Outstanding Organization, Outstanding Research Contribution, and Outstanding Community Service. These awards recognize outstanding worldwide achievement in the field of tobacco control and were presented during a special ceremony on the evening of March 11, in Mumbai, India, as part of the 14th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health.

Professor Srinath Reddy, Chair of the World Heart Federation Foundations' advisory Board, received the Outstanding Individual Leadership Award and The InterAmerican Heart Foundation, Continental member of the World Heart Federation, won the Outstanding Organization Award.

Learn more  >

With great sadness, we share with you news of the unexpected death of Dr. Philip Poole-Wilson on 4 March 2009 in London.

Dr. Poole-Wilson was an ardent advocate of global knowledge-sharing as an essential component of CVD prevention, and recently wrote in  the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: "In the last 25 years, the world has become smaller for the cardiovascular physician in the sense that scientists and medical specialists have been able to communicate in a manner that was previously unknown. There are two key reasons. The first is the airplane, which has allowed physicians from all over the world to travel to clinical and scientific meetings, to mix more frequently with colleagues from many countries, and thus to establish new friendships and collaborations. The second, more recent reason, is the development of the Internet. A consequence is that physicians, patients, health workers, and politicians have access to an immense, and hitherto unthinkable, range of knowledge. All can exchange opinions more quickly than ever before....The countries of Europe and the world do, to a large extent, represent a laboratory in which different health systems have been tested and in which different approaches have been taken to the delivery of health services and to the funding of clinical research. There is much to be learned by studying the merits or otherwise of these differences."

The day before his death, Circulation, the Journal of the American Heart Association, published an article entitled "Pioneer in Cardiology: Philip Poole-Wilson". View the article >

Dr. Poole-Wilson was a past president of the World Heart Federation (2003-2004) and of the European Society of Cardiology (1994-1996) and the founding chair of the British Society for Heart Failure. He was head of the department of cardiac medicine at the National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, an honorary consultant physician for Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals, and the British Heart Foundation Simon Marks professor of cardiology. He was on the editorial board of numerous international and UK medical journals, was an elite reviewer for the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, authored many textbooks, and has more than 500 publications listed in PubMed. He won several awards during his career, including the Mackenzie Medal of the British Cardiovascular Society in 2007 and Le Prix Europe en Médecine of the Institut des Sciences et de la Santé, Paris, in 2001.

We extend our condolences to his family and members of the global community for whom he was a dear friend and esteemed colleague.

Professor Pekka Puska, President of the World Heart Federation attended the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos last week with a record 40 heads of state or government and business and civil society leaders, to show how the global epidemic of noncomunicable diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, the leading cause of death, can be stopped and why prevention should be high on the global health agenda.

Read the press release >

View his interview on You Tube >

The Global Dialogue conducts  one-day workshops that provide campaign planners and other tobacco control advocates with the information and resources needed to develop effective public education/mass media campaigns to reduce tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke. Two upcoming workshops will be held in Mumbai and Dublin, adjacent to tobacco control conferences there (see below). There is no registration fee.

To register for either workshop, please contact info(at)stopsmokingcampaigns.org, copying karen.gutierrez(at)comcast.net.

Global Dialogue for Effective Stop Smoking Campaigns is a collaborative initiative among 16 partner organizations (NGOs, governmental agencies and private organizations) focused on increasing the impact of public education/mass media campaigns to reduce tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke. Global Dialogue compiles and synthesizes lessons learned, provides individual campaign consultation, and develops and disseminates campaign development resources.

For more information about Global Dialogue, visit the website: www.stopsmokingcampaigns.org or call Karen Gutierrez, Global Dialogue Director, at 651-330-5293 (USA).


Workshop venues:

World Conference on Tobacco or Health, Mumbai, India

Planning Effective Tobacco Control Public Education Campaigns Workshop

Sunday, March 8,  8:30 am - 4:30 pm   (location to be determined)

Registration is required and is open to the first 100 who register. Participants are urged to register by February 15, 2009.

Society for Research on Nicotine & Tobacco Global and European Meeting, Dublin, Ireland

Planning an Effective Public Education Mass Media Campaign to Reduce Tobacco Use and Exposure to Secondhand Smoke

Monday, April 27,   08:00-17:00

Pre-conference workshop

This interactive workshop, “Developing Effective Campaigns to Reduce Tobacco Use and Exposure to Secondhand Smoke,” will provide participants with the tools and resources to maximize the impact of their mass media, public education efforts.  It is sponsored by the Global Dialogue for Effective Stop Smoking Campaigns initiative.  The workshop is free, however pre-registration is required as space is limited.  

Workshop Overview

• International lessons learned about effective messages and approaches for campaigns, including findings from a recently completed review of secondhand smoke campaigns 
• An overview of Global Dialogue’s international campaign development tool kit (each participant will receive their choice of a hard cover or CD version of the 375-page tool kit) 
• Presentations from campaign managers about their own campaign experiences 
• Information and interactive exercises regarding campaign research & evaluation 

A more detailed agenda will be provided prior to the workshop on the WCTOH website (under Pre-Conferences) as well as via e-mail to registered workshop participants. 

Date:   Sunday, March 8th

Time:   8:30 am – 4:30 pm

Place:   National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA, main venue for the 14th WCTOH)

Registration Fee:   None 

Who should attend?

Staff from ministries of health or non-governmental organizations (NGOs) who have responsibility for developing tobacco control mass media campaigns, as well as researchers and advertising/public relations agency staff who work with campaign planners from health ministries and NGOs.  In addition, interested individuals who seek to use the mass media to effectively educate the public on the topics of tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke.

How to register?

Please send a message to info(at)stopsmokingcampaigns.org, copying karen.gutierrez(at)comcast.net, with your name, organization, country and email address.  Participation is limited to the first 100 participants, so registration is recommended by February 15th.

The Global Smokefree Partnership holds its Steering Group meeting at the World Heart Federation Headquarters in Geneva on 11 and 12 December.

The Global Smokefree Partnership launched two publications around the Article 8 guidelines: the Status Report on Article 8 (PDF - 1.7 MB) and the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Article 8 toolkit (PDF - 6.5 MB).

The Status Report on Article 8 is a brief media-friendly document which reports on the implementation of the Article 8 guidelines; identifies needs and challenges in progress with implementation (such as lack of resources and technical expertise); and provides recommendations for those countries that do not yet measure up. The Status Report can be used in conjunction with the second document launched at COP3, called the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Article 8 toolkit. The Article 8 toolkit provides advocates and policymakers with useful resources including information on best practices in advocating for comprehensive smokefree air laws that comply with the FCTC.

Learn more about the Global Smoking Partnership >

Pekka Puska appointed Director General of the new Institute for Health and Welfare in Finland.

Congratulations to Pekka Puska, President-Elect of the World Heart Federation, for being appointed Director General of the new Institute for Health and Welfare in Finland (THL). This post will be effective as of 1 January 2009, further to a merger of the National Public Health Institute (KTL) and National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health (Stakes).

Read more >

WCTOH, Mumbai, March 2009

India has won the bid to host the 14th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health (WCTOH).

The conference will be returning to a developing country after 12 years. The WCTOH brings together the global tobacco control community once every three years. It aims to advance tobacco control in many ways by generating interest and greater involvement of different stakeholders, advancing tobacco control policies and providing a global perspective on tobacco control issues. The 14th WCTOH aims to develop interest and awareness in local communities and also build a network for stronger action against tobacco.

The world conference is a unique opportunity for various organizations, local or international, to participate, share and learn. This conference will provide an opportunity for professional organizations in developing countries to make tremendous strides in education, strategy development, networking, and mobilization.
 
The conference is supported, among others, by GSK, Medtronic, Pfizer, the International Union for Cancer Control, and the World Heart Federation. The Federation will run two sessions during the conference, one on “Tobacco and CVD”, and one on “Broadening the Base of Advocacy for Tobacco Control.

For more information, you can visit the conference website at http://www.14wctoh.org/ or contact the World Heart Federation about this issue at lauriane.zonco(at)worldheart.org.  

The World Heart Federation participated in the second session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) on a Protocol on Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products in Geneva from 20 to 25 October 2008.

The INB will report to the third session of the Conference of the Parties in Durban at the end of the month, an event that the World Heart Federation will attend as well. During that week, government representatives have met to negotiate a protocol which recognizes the serious threat posed to public health by the illicit trade in tobacco products – primarily through the undermining of tax policy – and the cross-border nature of illicit trade, which means that no state can effectively address the problem on its own.  A number of important issues have been raised during the meeting, such as - The relation between this protocol and other international agreements and agencies, in particular UNODC, the development of an international tracking and tracing system, bans on duty free and internet sales, requirements for customer identification and verification. INB 3 will take place in June or July 2009.

The World Heart Federation will report on the Third Conference of the Parties which starts on Nov. 17th for a week.

Read about the Framework Convention Alliance for Tobacco Control >

World Heart Federation appoints Dr Jeya Wilson as Chief Executive

The Board of the World Heart Federation is pleased to announce the appointment of Jeya Wilson PhD, as the new Chief Executive. Dr Wilson brings with her over 20 years experience of working in the private, NGO and academic sectors. She is highly respected for her leadership skills, political insight, fundraising abilities, and innovative strategy implementation within a multi-stakeholder environment.

Read the full press release >

ProCor has launched a new dynamic online resource for people working to prevent cardiovascular disease around the world. Getting the information you need to promote cardiovascular health is faster and easier than ever.

It includes:

• Pages that download quickly, even with low-bandwidth or dial-up connections.
• Expanded content on a comprehensive range of CVD-related topics.
• Region and country filters for searches and page views.
• Customized sections for clinical, community, policy, and research interests.
• Targeted search results by keyword or any combination of topics.
• Links to useful open-access resources.
• Real-time integration with email discussion list-bridging the digital divide, allowing users to communicate via the medium of their choice.

By visiting the site you will learn about:

• Statistics and prevention strategies
• Healthy behaviors: Nutrition, physical activity, tobacco control, and additional lifestyle issues like alcohol use and oral health.
• Risk factors: Diabetes, hypertension, obesity, dyslipidemia, psychosocial risk factors, and non-modifiable risk factors like gender and family history.
• Related issues, including access to information, brain drain, globalization, research challenges, social determinants of health, and others.

You will also find resources and calendar events matched to specific interests and countries.

Visit www.procor.org >

UN report Delivering on the Global Partnerships for Achieving the Millennium Development Goals

This report highlights the existence of large gaps in the availability of medicines in both the public and private sectors, as well as a wide variation in prices which render essential medicines unaffordable to poor people.

It describes progress towards achieving MDG 8 (Develop a global partnership for development) and its related targets in the areas of essential medicines, official development assistance, trade, external debt and technology.

Page 41 highlights the increased support needed for chronic, non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory disease.

 Download the report >

 Read the press release >

Global Smokefree Partnership 2008 Awards for leadership and excellence in promoting effective smokefree policies

The Global Smokefree Partnership recently announced the results of the Global Smokefree Partnership 2008 Awards for leadership and excellence in promoting effective smokefree policies.

The Global Smokefree Partnership Awards for leadership and excellence in promoting effective smokefree policies aim to:

• Recognize outstanding leadership and excellence in promoting effective smokefree policies worldwide by individuals and organizations.
• Validate and encourage actions to promote smokefree policies The GSP 2008 Awards Committee included experts and scientists from different Countries and with different backgrounds.

Nominations from all over the world were presented and they were all outstanding. The Awards Committee had a difficult task in selecting the award recipients.

The GSP 2008 Awards ceremony will be celebrated during the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT) meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, on October 29, 2008.

The winners, by category, are:

• Government of Panama  - GSP Award to a Governmental Body
• InterAmerican Heart Foundation Mexico (FIC) - GSP Award to Civil Society and Campaigners for outstanding, sustained action to promote smokefree policies
• Hemant Goswami - GSP Extraordinary Award for exceptional and outstanding commitment as a dedicated smokefree and tobacco control activist to promote the implementation of the guidelines on Article 8 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
• Minister of Health Thailand  - GSP Extraordinary Award for an exceptional example of how governments effectively implement the guidelines for Article 8 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

Learn more about the Global Smokefree Partnership >

WHO Commission on the Social Determinants of Health

The final report of the WHO Commission on the Social Determinants of Health was recently released, and may provide a unifying basis for all public health initiatives, whether this be in relation to unfinished agendas such as the provision of potable water, sanitation and hygiene education or to the burgeoning impact of non-communicable diseases and universal access to health care.

View all details and download the report from the WHO web site

New Masters Degree course in Preventive Cardiology

The National Heart and Lung Institute at the Imperial College in London, UK, announces a new Masters Degree course in Preventive Cardiology which is accepting its first intake of students this October. The course is open to hospital and primary care physicians, nurses, dieticians, physiotherapists, physical activity specialists, psychologists, occupational therapists, pharmacists and any other health professionals with an interest in cardiovascular disease prevention.

Full time (one year) or part time (two years) students are welcome.

Apply >

Download the PDF announcement >

Sydney Resolution

The World Heart Federation strongly supports the Sydney Resolution delivered during the annual meeting of the Oxford Health Alliance this year in Australia. Cardiovascular disease represents one out of three deaths worldwide, and combined with the other chronic diseases diabetes, chronic lung disease and cancer, accounts for 50% of mortality globally.

The World Heart Federation tirelessly advocates for the acknowledgement of chronic diseases as a major public health threat, and for a real change within UN agencies, governments, health care professionals, NGOs, corporations and individuals.

The World Heart Federation thus fully endorses the Sydney resolution and calls for the other players in this field to do alike and join forces.

Read the resolution >

Millennium Promise Award

Non-communicable Chronic Diseases Research Training Program (NCoD) (D43) Grant

This research training program is designed to build research capacity in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in the fields related to cancer, cerebrovascular disease including stroke, lung disease including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and environmental factors including indoor air pollution, and obesity and lifestyle factors related to these conditions as well as genetics of non-communicable diseases. The institutions applying can be domestic or foreign, but have to exhibit the ability to do such training, and must exhibit that they have existing research programs in these fields.

Read the full announcement >

World Conference on Tobacco or Health

The World Conference on Tobacco or Health is widely recognised as an important forum for international collaboration on tobacco control and as a stimulus for national efforts in this field. World Conferences have been hosted in the United States, United Kingdom, Sweden, Canada, Japan, Australia, Argentina, France, China, and Finland.  The next World Conference on Tobacco or Health will take place in Mumbai, India from 8-12 March, 2009.
 
The International Liaison Group on Tobacco or Health (ILGTH) which is responsible for selecting the venue of the World Conference on Tobacco or Health is now receiving expressions of interest for hosting the 15th World Conference on Tobacco or Health in 2012

Call for Expression of Interest
The bidding manual is available on GLOBALink or from the secretariat

• A letter of intent accepting all conditions as outlined in the bid manual to host the conference, should be submitted by 30 June, 2008.
• Final formal bids for the Conference should be received by: 30 November 2008
• All bids will be considered by ILGTH and the most competitive bidding organisation will be notified by 9 February, 2009 and asked to present their bid (at the bidders own cost) to the ILGTH Committee in Mumbai on 8 March, 2009 where the final decision will be made.

 
All documents to be addressed to the:
Chair of the International Liaison Group on Tobacco or Health
Dr. Judith Mackay
c/o ILGTH Secretariat
International Union Against Cancer (UICC)
62, route de Frontenex
1207 Geneva, Switzerland
E-mail: mortara(at)uicc.org

Download the press release >

Download the bid manual >

World Health Statistics 2008

The four main causes of death worldwide by 2030 will be ischemic heart disease, strokes, chronic obstructive heart disease, and lower respiratory infections such as pneumonia, according to the World Health Statistics 2008 report.

Mortality rates from non-communicable diseases and road accidents will make up more than 30% of deaths worldwide.

Deaths from Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) will rise from 17.1 million in 2004 to 23.4 million 2030.

Tobacco-related deaths will increase from 5.4 million in 2004 to 8.3 million by 2030, with 80% of these cases in developing countries.

Learn more on the World Health Statistics 2008 in the WHO web site: 

Latin American youth from regional network on tobacco control receive World No Tobacco Day awards

On behalf of the youth networks developed through the World Heart Federation Colombia Model Youth project, four youths have been chosen by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) to receive the WHO World No Tobacco Day awards. Through the project, World Heart Federation works with the InterAmerican Heart Foundation to involve youth in advocacy supporting smoke-free policy through projects in Argentina, Colombia and Uruguay, and has developed a regional network. Youth met in a regional meeting at the Italian Hospital in Buenos Aires just prior to the 2008 World Congress of Cardiology there, and in the congress interacted with participants at the booth on youth and tobacco. Youth teams shared models of activities they have developed at the World Heart Federation member meeting organized parallel to the congress.

 
Read the PAHO press release >

Learn more about the WHO awards >

Learn more about the Colombia Model Youth project >

61st World Health Assembly sets bold new action for WHO

The World Health Assembly, which comprised of a record 2704 participants from 190 nations, set the World Health Organization on a course to tackle longstanding, new and looming threats to global public health. Among its achievements, the Health Assembly produced a public health breakthrough by providing a platform for removing barriers and using innovative methods to encourage research, development and access to medicines for the common diseases of the developing world.

Read the whole press release >

Learn more about the World Heart Federation collaboration with WHO >

CVD Prevention and Control Writers' Workshop

CVD Prevention and Control is organizing a Writers’ Workshop during the World congress of Cardiology 2008 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

This half day workshop is primarily intended for those from developing countries who want to publish in scientific journals. Participants will receive information on how to organize and write a manuscript for publication as well as information on how manuscripts are processed through the Elsevier Electronic system. The aim and scope of the journal will be discussed and a part of the session will be focused on interactions with a successful writer from a developing country.

This Workshop will be held on Monday, 19 May 2008 from 9.30 to 12.30.

Register by sending your name, city, country and email address to d.g-clemens@worldheart.org.

Health Workers Rheumatic Heart Disease Prevention Seminar held in Kenya

Even in the midst of Kenya’s worst political crisis, the Kenyan-Heart National Foundation was still able to organize a one-day Health Workers Rheumatic Heart Disease Prevention Seminar.

The seminar, one of a series under the Pilot-Project in Nairobi Eastlands, was held on January 30th 2008. The Pilot-Project is funded by DANIDA, through a Collaboration-Twinning-Partnership between the Kenyan-Heart National Foundation and the Danish Heart Foundation.

Read the full article (PDF) >

World Heart Federation urges Geneva to vote for smoking ban

The World Heart Federation urged Geneva to vote on February 24th to ban smoking in bars and restaurants. Following recent smoking bans in France, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom, Geneva followed the example set by fellow Swiss cantons Ticino and Soleure and put an end to smoking in public places.

“There is no safe level of exposure to tobacco smoke,” says Janet Voûte of the Geneva-based World Heart Federation. “The right of a person to breathe clean air takes precedence over any possible right of smokers to pollute the air other people breathe. This is not about whether smokers smoke, it is about where they smoke.”

Read the press release (PDF) >

7th International Training Course on NCD Prevention and Health Promotion 2008 

This course, which will be held from 20-24 April in Isfahan, Iran, aims  to offer intensive, high level training to persons who are involved in the planning, implementation and evaluation of comprehensive integrated community-based programs for NCDs, risk factor prevention and healthy lifestyle promotion.
This year’s theme is “Capacity building for prevention of NCDs, controlling their risk factors, and health promotion”.

To find out more about this course and to register, please visit www.ihhp.ir. There are a limited number of sponsorships for accommodation for participants from developing countries.

WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic 2008 

The World Health Organization (WHO) today released a landmark report that makes clear both the devastating scope of the global tobacco epidemic – it is the leading cause of preventable death in the world today – and the fact that it is entirely avoidable if nations implement proven solutions. 

This report presents the first comprehensive picture of what the world’s nations are doing to address this public health crisis, and it demonstrates starkly that most nations are not doing nearly enough.  Only about five percent of the world’s population is covered by any one of the key interventions recommended by the WHO.

Learn more about the WHO report>

Working towards wellness: health and workforce productivity

On Saturday 26th January, the World Heart Federation will participate in the World Economic Forum 2008 private session: “Working Towards Wellness: Health and Workforce Productivity” in Davos, Switzerland, hosted by the Governors of the Consumer Industries Community.

In this workshop, leaders from various business sectors will join experts, NGOs – including the World Heart Federation - and public figures to discuss the latest findings from the joint report with the World Health Organization on the links between health and productivity in the workplace and will call for business-leaders to take global action on helping prevent chronic diseases.

The programme will start with a call for action session, moderated by Janet Voûte, World Heart Federation Chief Executive Officer. Chronic disease is responsible for more than 60% of all deaths globally and is projected to account for two-thirds of all deaths in the next 25 years. Business has a role to play in helping find a solution given the size and growth of the global workforce. The topics for discussion will relate to the current challenges, the global implications for business and the role of the World Economic Forum.

Professor K S Reddy, Chairman of the World Heart Federation Foundations' Advisory Board will participate in the interactive session entitled “Driving change: measurement” . The participants will discuss how business can conduct a true cost-benefit analysis for wellness programmes, how to tailor these practices to meet the needs from different regions and small and medium enterprises, and what are the knowledge gaps.

The session “Walk the Talk and Vote”, moderated by Janet Voûte, will discuss which specific areas should be focused on in 2008, what kind of role can each one play to achieve this goal, and define what are the needed deliverables for next year.

Learn more about the World Economic Forum initiative “Working Towards Wellness”