Welcome Message

Welcome to the 16th World Conference on Tobacco or Health

On behalf of the Organising Committee and Emirates Cardiac Society, we are honoured to invite you to the 16th World Conference on Tobacco or Health (WCTOH) which will be held from 17 to 21 March 2015 in Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Conference is a call for a collective resolution to fight tobacco by working together and integrating tobacco control into two broad agendas for achievement of our common health and development goals.

The Conference theme of “Tobacco and Non-Communicable Diseases” highlights the fact that tobacco use is the most alarming risk factor for diseases causing millions of deaths every year and contributing to the enormous burden of NCDs all over the world. Through the implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and MPOWER, considerable progress has been made since the WCTOH 2012 in Singapore, but many challenges remain.

The Conference format will include panel discussions, symposia, posters, workshops and post-graduate courses on the many aspects of the tobacco epidemic and will highlight the efforts being made to control it through the WHO FCTC and MPOWER. Tracks on "New Emerging Products and Challenges, the Post-2015 Development Agenda, the Supply and Demand Side of the Tobacco Industry and the Globalisation of Tobacco Industry Interference" will give all participants the opportunity to discuss the current situation and come up with proposals on how to accelerate tobacco control in all countries.

With UAE making efforts towards ending the tobacco epidemic by banning smokeless tobacco and introducing strict tobacco control laws, we recognise this Conference as an outstanding opportunity to evaluate current global strategies to fight tobacco and to develop a way forward collaboratively.

It is imperative that tobacco control efforts be stepped up further with progressive, groundbreaking and radical international measures moving towards a tobacco-free world. Although success in tobacco control efforts has been regionally skewed, there are a number of positive developments and activities in our global tobacco control movement that can be replicated as best practice.

We look forward to learning from your experiences and insights pertaining to various facets of tobacco control including governance, policy, advocacy and research. Your participation will contribute immensely to the success of the 2015 World Conference on Tobacco or Health. We look forward to welcoming you to Abu Dhabi, where you will find both constructive discussions at the Conference and warm UAE hospitality.