ASH Chief Executive Deborah Arnott was presented with an award from the World Health Organization by the Minister for Public Health, Anne Milton at an event to mark the charity's 40th anniversary, yesterday.

At a special meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health, Ms Milton presented the World No Tobacco Day Award 2011 in recognition of ASH's 'dynamic' international work supporting the establishment of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, including the development of the illicit trade protocol.

Accepting the award, Deborah Arnott said:

"I am delighted to accept this award on behalf of ASH . Since the charity was founded 40 years ago, we have seen a dramatic fall in smoking from around half of all adults to just one fifth. This achievement is due to the support of parliamentarians from all parties, who have helped to ensure that the UK remains a world leader in tobacco policy."

The event was hosted by Liberal Democrat MP Stephen Williams, Chair of the APPG on Smoking and Health, who welcomed the strong cross-party support for tobacco policies. He expressed particular thanks to Kevin Barron, the Labour MP and former Health Select Committee Chair, and to Public Health Minister Anne Milton for her work on the recent Tobacco Plan. Ms Milton highlighted the challenges ahead, with over 80,000 deaths from tobacco every year in England alone.

Also speaking at the event was Sir Richard Thomson, President of the Royal College of Physicians, the organisation who originally founded ASH in 1971, and ASH Chair, Professor John Moxham.

Notes

[1] Every year on 31 May, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognises individuals and/or organisations for their accomplishments in tobacco control with World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) Awards. The awards recognise international achievements in the fight against the global tobacco epidemic and in the promotion of tobacco control initiatives and policies. ASH is a recipient of a 2011 award for its work to ensure 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 mobilising civil society engagement in the Treaty process, which was vital to the subsequent success of the WHO FCTC.

Source:
ASH