The Africa launch of ‘No Fire, No Smoke: the Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction’— took place from 13th - 14th March in Lilongwe, Malawi. The events were hosted by the Tobacco Harm Reduction Malawi project (THR Malawi) and the Journalists’ Association against AIDS (JournAIDS).
The report launch’s theme was ‘Safeguarding public health - the role of tobacco harm reduction’. The meeting discussed the potential for THR in a country that is heavily dependent on growing tobacco for export.
The first day included the formal launch of the GSTHR report, attended by government and civil society stakeholders drawn from various fields, ranging from health, agriculture, trade and industry, academia, media, smallholder farmers and nicotine consumers. The keynote speaker and Guest of Honour was Dr. Charles Mwansambo, Chief of Health Services at the Ministry of Health and Population Services.
The second day comprised a policy dialogue, examining potential specific solutions for successful THR and the interdependence of the shrinking global tobacco market, delivering THR in a mainly rural setting and agricultural economics. Malawi does not have any smoke-free policies in place and is not a signatory to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). This was followed by a press conference.
