See what Prevent20 members in Bangladesh, Colombia and Mongolia are doing to support higher tobacco taxes

Prevent20 Member Activity Newsflash

Dr. Faruque (middle) hands the Prevent20 letter to Zahid Maleque, MP, Honourable Minister, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (right) in Bangladesh.

Dear Friends,

We wanted to share with you some recent successes, which show the power and potential of our community, especially when we collaborate:

Bangladesh

You may recall our request to sign a letter in support of Bangladesh Cancer Society’s call for higher tobacco taxation. We’re delighted that Bangladesh Cancer Society’s Project Director and Joint Secretary, Professor Dr. Golam Mohiuddin Faruque, has made excellent use of this letter for public relations and advocacy.

Dr. Faruque personally handed the letter to Bangladesh’s Health Minister during a wide-ranging meeting in early May.

It featured on national TV in Bangladesh. You can see Dr. Faruque holding the letter while talking about tobacco control and tobacco taxation during a live national television interview on Bangladesh’s Channel 24, on World No Tobacco Day.

It was presented to policymakers. Prominent Members of the Parliaments (MPs) of Bangladesh were presented with a copy of the letter during a June meeting with tobacco control advocates, including Dr. Faruque. All the attending MPs confirmed that they would strongly support higher tobacco taxes.

Your contribution helped make this happen! Dr. Faruque has recorded a video message to thank Prevent20 members and friends for their support – view it here .

Would you like to present policymakers in your country with a letter explaining the importance of tobacco taxes, with the support of other members of Prevent20? We can help – email us now!

World No Tobacco Day

Representatives from a number of cancer organizations attended our Virtual Café event in May on communicating with stakeholders on tobacco taxation for World No Tobacco Day and beyond, using the conversation and materials circulated after the event to inform their planned activities.

Colombia

Colombia’s Liga Contra el Cáncer undertook a range of activities, including a microsite at http://www.libresdehumo.org/. One of the materials was an infographic on the components of combustible cigarettes, which gained more than 24 thousand views when it was posted on Facebook.

La Liga Colombiana said: “We appreciate all the guides delivered and the key messages of Prevent20! I really liked the animated video to explain the importance of taxes.”

Mongolia

The National Cancer Council of Mongolia prepared and distributed a press release for World No Tobacco Day, which was published in a journal in English and Mongolian. Through media outreach, the organization also secured a television interview you can watch here about the importance of tobacco taxes.

Cancer Council Founder and CEO Tsetsegsaikhan Batmunkh said: “Thank you very much for sharing this useful information.”

Share your recent activity and successes with the Prevent20 community. Get in touch.

We’ll be running more Virtual Café events through 2019. This will include events on communications strategy and messaging, scheduled to make it easier for cancer organizations in different time zones to join, and events on specific subjects.

Register your interest here!