Africa-Press – Mauritius. A press conference focusing on the ninth World Health Organisation (WHO) Report on Global Tobacco Epidemic 2023, was held yesterday at the Maritim Resort & Spa, Turtle Bay, in Balaclava.
The Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Kailesh Kumar Singh Jagutpal, and other key speakers namely, the Minister of Health of Seychelles, Dr Peggy Vidot; the WHO Representative in Mauritius, Dr Anne Marie Ancia; the Head of the Convention Secretariat of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), Dr Adriana Blanco Marquizo ; the Director of Universal Health Coverage of the WHO AFRO, Dr Adelheid Onyango; the Director of Health Promotion from the WHO Headquarters, Dr Ruediger Krech; and other representatives of WHO FCTC, participated in the press conference.
The press conference followed the official launching ceremony of the ninth Report by the President of the Republic of Mauritius, Mr Prithvirajsing Roopun, earlier at the same venue. During his intervention, Health Minister, Dr Kailesh Jagutpal, recalled that smoking remains a global threat and continues to kill people.
He pointed out that Mauritius succeeded to decrease the prevalence of tobacco smoking from 30.7 % in 1987 to 18.3 % in 2021, which he attributed to the strong political will of the Government as well as to the support of the WHO.
While the Minister rejoiced the milestone accomplishment of Mauritius in attaining this decrease in tobacco smoking prevalence over the years along with the feat of achieving all the six MPOWER of the WHO FCTC guidelines, he remarked that the country has yet to face many more challenges to work towards a tobacco-free society.
The WHO FCTC framework, he emphasised, will help all countries to learn from the experience of each other, identify their respective gaps and make it to the next level. On her part, the Minister of Health of Seychelles congratulated Mauritius for its commendable success.
She stated that Mauritius as a Small Island Developing State (SIDS) has become a leader and an inspiration for all other SIDS which she said, will be able to learn from the successful strategies that it implemented.
Concerning the Republic of Seychelles, the Minister underlined that the country is working hard on tobacco control measures, and is making progress. According to her, all countries should sustain their efforts, ensure that there are a lot more enforcement on policies and legislations, maintain continuous education, and work with partners.
As for Dr Anne Marie Ancia, she lauded Mauritius’ achievement, highlighting that it involves a journey of 20 years of relentless effort, political leadership, true investment, and cross-cutting collaboration among various sectors and partners.
She explained that the six MPOWER measures seek to monitor tobacco-use and prevention policies; protect people from tobacco use; offer help to quit tobacco use; warn about the dangers of tobacco; enforce bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship; and raise taxes on tobacco.
Mauritius, she stressed, has demonstrated leadership and is showing to the rest of the world that controlling tobacco, implementing effective measures to protect the life and ensuring the wellbeing of the population are possible in any country of the world.
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