Capacity Building for Tobacco Control in Tunisia, North Africa & Middle East

描述)：通过戒烟倡议拯救全球生命的潜力已经得到了很好的记录。到2020年，如果成人烟草消费量减少50%，大约可以避免1.8亿与烟草有关的死亡。戒烟支持除了具有立即挽救生命的潜力外，对于其他烟草控制举措来说，也是一个相对没有争议的切入点，而且鉴于《烟草控制框架公约》第14条实施指南的通过，戒烟支持非常及时。书面戒烟指南与有效实施之间存在很大差距。目前的提案将弥补这一差距，并将寻求在突尼斯这个烟草负担严重的国家建设能力。突尼斯最近批准了《烟草控制框架公约》，并且地处战略位置，可以接触到北非和中东国家。我们将通过我们现有的慢性病预防伙伴关系开展工作，并将利用卓越中心内的资源，在突尼斯苏塞进行慢性病研究和预防。我们的具体目标包括让我们的突尼斯同事参与形成性研究，包括重点小组、调查和与卫生专业人员和烟草使用者的试点研究，并通过最初为苏塞的人员举办的讲习班以及随后为国家和区域受众举办的讲习班向卫生专业人员提供多学科培训。我们的长期目标是在苏塞发展一个既定的多学科培训方案，以提高该区域执行第14条的能力，并更广泛地为第14条的执行提供信息。 与公共卫生相关：目前的项目达到了资助机会公告的目标，通过合作的多学科方法解决了戒烟的关键问题，该方法还将通过培训教员同事和举办一系列针对卫生专业人员的讲习班来建设能力。这项研究计划将有助于解决书面戒烟指南和有效实施之间的差距。

DESCRIPTION): The potential to save lives globally through cessation initiatives has been well documented. By the year 2020, if adult consumption were to decrease by 50%, approximately 180 million tobacco related deaths could be avoided. In addition to having immediate potential for saving lives, cessation support is a relatively noncontroversial foot-in-the-door for other tobacco control initiatives and is very timely in light of adoption of guidelines for implementatio of Article 14 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. There is a major gap between written cessation guidelines and effective implementation. The current proposal will address this gap and will seek to build capacity in Tunisia, a country with a substantial tobacco burden. Tunisia recently ratified the FCTC and is strategically located to reach countries in Northern Africa and the Middle East. We will work through our existing partnership on chronic disease prevention and will leverage resources within the center of excellence for research and prevention of chronic disease in Sousse, Tunisia. Our specific aims include engaging our Tunisian colleagues in formative research including focus groups, surveys, and pilot studies with health professionals and tobacco users and providing multidisciplinary training to health professionals through workshops offered initially for those in Sousse and followed by workshops for national and regional audiences. Our long-term goal is to develop in Sousse an established multidisciplinary training program to increase capacity for implementation of Article 14 in the region and to inform Article 14 implementation more broadly. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The current project meets the goals of the Funding Opportunity Announcement by addressing the critical problem of tobacco cessation through a collaborative multidisciplinary approach that will also build capacity through training of faculty colleagues and through a series of workshops targeted at health professionals. This program of research will help to address the gap between written cessation guidelines and effective implementation.