Seventh session of the conference of the parties to the WHO framework convention on tobacco control: report of the joint regional workshop,

Overview

The Seventh Session of the Conference of the Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (COP7) was held on 7–12 November 2016 in India. The Region hosted a COP session at a time when tobacco control initiatives are facing various challenges at the national, regional and global level. The SouthEast Asia Region has a high burden of tobacco use. The hosting of Seventh Session of the COP provided enormous opportunity to the entire Region to enhance the tobacco control agenda and adopt policies to the advantage of Member States. Various agenda items of COP7 require a strong regional position and consensus among the Parties to the Convention in the SEA Region. In this context, the WHO South-East Asia Regional Office (SEARO) partnered with the Ministry of Health, Government of Maldives, and the Convention Secretariat of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) to organize a two-day regional workshop for COP7 on 21–22 September 2016 in Maldives. The aim of the workshop was to introduce the provisional agenda of COP7 to the Member States of the South-East Asia (SEA) Region and to provide a suitable avenue to the Member States to deliberate on tobacco control issues of regional importance and adopt common regional positions on important COP7 agenda items.