Representatives from 13 Pacific islands countries (Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu) shared their progress and identified actions to address barriers to tobacco control at a Workshop for Progressing Toward Tobacco Free Pacific from 28-29 September in Nadi, Fiji.
There have been many Pacific achievements in tobacco control since the adoption of the Tobacco Free Pacific 2025 goal by Pacific Health Ministers in 2013. In the past year Fiji and Tonga have increased tobacco excise taxes while Kiribati, Tonga and Vanuatu have strengthened tobacco control legislation. Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa, and Solomon Islands have also focused on strengthening tobacco control enforcement. All participants stated that they had experienced tobacco industry interference to some extent in their tobacco control efforts.
The workshop focused on progress and challenges in tobacco taxation, strengthening health warnings on tobacco products, strengthening tobacco control enforcement, and combatting tobacco industry interference in the Pacific. “The opportunity to share experiences among the Pacific islands allows us to identify actions that may be useful in our countries. I found the session about preventing tobacco industry interference to be especially helpful,” Posesione Ropati, Environmental Health Officer, Ministry of Health Samoa.
