World No Tobacco Day Awards 2011

Every year on 31 May, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes individuals and/or organizations for their accomplishments in tobacco control with World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) Awards. The awards recognize international achievements in the fight against the global tobacco epidemic and in the promotion of tobacco control initiatives and policies. They are awarded to individuals and institutions selected for long-term commitment and outstanding contribution in research, advocacy, health promotion, capacity building and other activities that promote and enforce tobacco control.

The awards are respected and a powerful tobacco control tool. Regarded highly worldwide, the awards bring visibility, nationally and internationally, to WHO’s collaborative support of countries’ and civil society’s efforts to control tobacco.

The awards for 2011 are given to the following in the WHO European Region:

Director-General Special Recognition Award:

Mr George Papandreou, Prime Minister of Greece, Greece

Greece is a true country example that exhibits the "whole government" approach in its tobacco control efforts. Remarkable progress has taken place in the last years in addressing Article 8 of the WHO FCTC, under the leadership and political commitment of the Prime Minister of Greece, Mr George Papandreou and his Government. These developments have placed Greece, since September 2010, among one of the few countries in the WHO European Region to aim to fully protect its country’s citizens from the harmful effects of tobacco smoke in public places.

The Prime Minister's commitment to tobacco control will help other countries overcome the global tobacco epidemic that threatens the lives of hundreds of millions of men, women and children during this century. Preventing this foreseeable catastrophe needs commitments of high level politicians and personal dedications that we have seen clearly from the Prime Minister of Greece.

World No Tobacco Day Awards:

Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)

ASH worked tirelessly for the success of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) from the start of negotiations in 1999. It played a dynamic role as key actor in mobilizing civil society engagement in the Treaty process, which was vital to the subsequent success of the WHO FCTC. ASH continues to support the effective development and implementation of the WHO FCTC at all levels from the local to the national and international, placing particular emphasis on Article 5.3 and its guidelines.  

European Network for Smoking and Tobacco Prevention

ENSP is a key Pan-European network active in tobacco control. It works as a grassroots organization in implementing the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) at the European level and serves as an instrumental actor for NGO work in Europe. It currently comprises of over 500 member organizations in 28 national coalitions. Its core work is within the European Union institutions, EU Member States and members of ENSP. However, it is also actively expanding to other parts of the WHO/EURO Region and encouraging and supporting tobacco control organizations in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Furthermore, ENSP received observer status during the last Conference of the Parties to the WHO FCTC in Uruguay.

Fiona Godfrey

Fiona Godfrey stands in a unique position in European tobacco control as she brings legal skills and a penetrating intelligence to problems of tobacco policy. She has been a key NGO contributor to WHO FCTC discussions and continues to be part of NGO strategy formulation on the European level. Her intellectual skills, combined with a commitment to collaboration and an enthusiasm for tobacco control puts her in high demand for European projects. She is a tireless worker whose legal expertise and policy understanding is greatly valued by scientific colleagues and who has made a remarkable contribution to tobacco control in Europe. In addition to her in-depth expertise on tobacco control policy issues such as taxation and illicit trade, smoke-free legislation and regulatory issues including labelling and health warnings, Fiona is also a member of NCD Alliance and member of their tobacco control group, bringing in another unique position to better integrate tobacco control into broader NCD issues.

German Cancer Research Centre

The German Cancer Research Centre / WHO Collaborating Centre has made outstanding advancements in tobacco control both in Germany as well as internationally. It has been instrumental in developing guidance, recommendations and other technical materials for advocacy work towards the implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC). Just recently, it played a central role in developing the guidelines on Article 12 (education, training and communication) which had been adopted by the Conference of the Parties (COP) at its fourth session held in Uruguay in 2010. This is complemented by the centre’s tremendous contributions in the development of communication instruments to facilitate the implementation of Article 12 of the WHO FCTC.

Smoke Free Partnership (SFP)

The Smoke Free Partnership’s (SFP) mission is the effective implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). The SFP has been instrumental in working with decision makers to ensure that tobacco control receives political attention at the European Union (EU) level. Its work is based heavily on partnerships, working with other EU health organizations and tobacco control networks to promote tobacco control information and policy research at the EU and national level. Additionally, it also aims to ensure WHO FCTC implementation globally, and is working to release EU funding for tobacco control to counter poverty in low-income countries.