BAGUIO CITY – Around 100 delegates from the Asia-Pacific region will attend the 8th Asia-Pacific Smoke-Free conference of the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA) from Oct. 27 to 28 here.
Hosted by the city government of Baguio, the regional meeting with the theme "Rising amidst the Challenges: Strengthening and Sustaining Smoke-Free Implementation" will be a venue for the sharing of best practices on smoke-free program implementation and enforcement as part of the comprehensive tobacco control and health promotion.
The conference also aims to teach the importance and the process of preparing an effective smoke-free enforcement mechanism and identify and respond to challenges in implementing policies and sustaining the smoke-free campaign with the emergence of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) and heated tobacco products (HTPs).
Mayor Benjamin Magalong said SEATCA Smoke-Free Program Manager and Smoke-Free Cities and Asia-Pacific Network (SCAN) Asia-Pacific Secretary General Dr. Domilyn Villareiz chose Baguio as venue because of its notable achievements in smoke-free endeavors and other aspects that make this city livable and healthy.
Villarreiz told Magalong that participants will be governors, city and municipal mayors, smoke-free focal persons, tobacco control advocates, and representatives of civil society organizations from different cities and countries in the Asia-Pacific, most of whom are members of the SCAN.