ACTIVITIES

Global planning and communications

INGCAT’s main role is to help its members plan and deliver effective tobacco control policies and progammes. This involves setting up international planning meetings, networking among research, development and advocacy organisations, briefing members on new developments in tobacco control and assisting members to incorporate effective tobacco control programmes into their strategic and operational plans. INGCAT is now leading a global partnership for tobacco dependence treatment, bringing together international NGOs, inter-governmental agencies, academic and private sector organisations to promote universal access to effective treatment. It is also a member of the Global Dialogue for Effective Stop Smoking Campaigns, and of the Global Smokefree Partnership (www.globalsmokefreepartnership.org).

Global campaigns

Many tobacco control policy measures require coordinated international action. Until 1998, campaigns were fought theme by theme, but 1998 saw the beginning of negotiations for the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which required massive mobilisation of NGOs to advocate for comprehensive measures. INGCAT members and others now devote much of their campaigning effort to achieving ratification and full implementation of that treaty, which came into force in February 2005.

A current priority for INGCAT is countering tobacco industry "corporate social responsibility" (CSR) programmes. Download our position statement on this using the link opposite.

National coalitions

INGCAT’s country-level members are leaders in striving for effective tobacco control in their countries. They are often the main providers of education programmes and treatment for those who want to stop, or leaders in research about tobacco use. They are often the main advocates for tobacco control policies, and play a major role in ratification and implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. INGCAT has recently had a major coalition-building project in Sudan.

Member organisations

As well as leading global and national advocacy efforts, INGCAT’s members run programmes of their own on tobacco control. This includes undertaking new research on tobacco issues; providing education and treatment services and promoting smoke-free environments in the communities they serve; incorporating tobacco control themes into their training and conference programmes and stimulating debate on the science and ethics of tobacco control.

One example is the work of European Respiratory Society on harm reduction, which was the subject of an expert research seminar to help form organisational policy on this issue. The seminar report is available from the ERS website.