Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, June 13
By Huseyn Hasanov – Trend:
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov met in Ashgabat with the director of the country office of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Turkmenistan, Paulina Karwowska, Turkmen Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Karwowska noted that Turkmenistan has made significant progress in regulating tobacco consumption and is making efforts to create a tobacco smoke-free environment.
The Turkmen side positively assessed the cooperation of Turkmenistan and WHO in the issues related to various diseases, the message says. The role of the First European High-Level Conference on Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases, held in Ashgabat in 2013, was also noted.
Turkmenistan has set an ambitious goal to become a country free from tobacco by 2025. Thus, the number of smokers will not exceed five percent of the adult population of the country, the Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper wrote.
Turkmenistan is a leader in tobacco control, with the lowest smoking rate in the WHO’s European region - 8.3 percent of the population as of April 2016. The WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control was adopted at the World Health Assembly on May 21, 2003 and entered into force on February 27, 2005.
Turkmenistan ratified this international document in 2011. Turkmenistan adopted a National Action Plan on Tobacco Control, which includes a number of areas of activity - raising public awareness on this issue, strengthening of relevant legislation and regulations governing the sale of tobacco products to minors, and enhancing cooperation with international organizations.