International awards for ASEAN’s leading smoke-free cities
8 August 2024, Vientiane: The inaugural ASEAN Smoke-free Awards (ASA) were launched today with Iloilo City, Philippines earning the top-level Gold Award for achieving the highest score after a rigorous screening process. Bogor City, Indonesia, received the Silver Award, while the Bronze Award was presented to Saensuk Municipality in Thailand and Bagan City, Myanmar.
Lao PDR, the current chair of the ASEAN Health Ministers Meeting (AHMM), alongside the ASEAN Secretariat and the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA), proudly bestowed the prestigious awards to these champion smoke-free cities. Lao PDR Health Minister Bounfeng Phoummalaysith, led the ASA awarding, which took place during the opening ceremony of the 16th AHMM on 8 August in Vientiane, Lao PDR, symbolizing the ongoing dedication to promoting smoke-free environments across the region.
The 2024 ASEAN Smoke-free Award Report was also distributed as a reference for best practices in creating smoke-free spaces to inspire other cities to strengthen their smoke-free policies and pursue effective smoke-free initiatives.
The ASA underscores the importance of smoke-free environments to protect public and environmental health through effective smoke-free policies and their consistent implementation and enforcement. This initiative is aligned with the ASEAN Post-2015 Health Development Agenda 2016-2025, specifically focusing on reducing tobacco consumption as one of the health priorities to promote healthy lifestyle under the ASEAN Health Cluster. It also operationalizes the ASEAN Declaration on Culture of Prevention for a Peaceful, Inclusive, Resilient, Healthy, and Harmonious Society, adopted at the 31st ASEAN Summit in November 2017. This declaration addresses the root causes of socio-economic problems, including ill health, by promoting a healthy lifestyle.
“This prestigious award honors local government units that excel in sustaining and enforcing tobacco control measures, advocating against tobacco promotions and sponsorships, and protecting the youth amid ongoing challenges,” said Iñigo Garingalao, Executive Director of the Iloilo City Anti-Smoking Task Force (ICAST), recognizing that local governments have an important mandate to ensure public spaces are safe, smoke-free and clean. Iloilo City, renowned for its historical heritage and growing economic importance, has a population of about half a million residents, but the population swells to a million on work and school days.
“The ASEAN Smoke-free Award is a testament to the steadfast commitment of ASEAN cities to ensure their citizens can live, learn, and work in healthy, smoke-free communities. This is essential for ending the tobacco epidemic in all countries,” said SEATCA Executive Director Dr. Ulysses Dorotheo. “SEATCA congratulates all the winners and encourages other cities to step up to the challenge and aspire to win the ASA in the coming years,” he added.
Contact Information:
Dr Domilyn Villarreiz, Smoke-free Program Manager, SEATCA
Email: domilyn@seatca.org
About SEATCA
SEATCA is a multi-sectoral non-governmental alliance promoting health and saving lives by assisting ASEAN countries to accelerate and effectively implement the tobacco control measures contained in the WHO FCTC. Acknowledged by governments, academic institutions, and civil society for its advancement of tobacco control in Southeast Asia, the WHO bestowed on SEATCA the World No Tobacco Day Award in 2004 and the WHO Director-General’s Special Recognition Award in 2014. SEATCA is an accredited ASEAN entity and an official Observer to the WHO FCTC Conference of Parties.
