Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) Tobacco Control Centre has been re-designated by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a collaborating centre for treating tobacco dependence for four years (until August 2025).
This re-designation has uniquely placed Qatar and HMC on the map of WHO Collaborating Centres in regard to tobacco dependence treatment within the EMRO region.
The staff members of the Tobacco Control Centre expressed their appreciation and gratitude to HE Dr Hanan Mohamed al-Kuwari, Minister of Public Health, for her continued support to the centre as well as to HMC Media Department. The centre also thanked Dr Fatima El-Awa, WHO regional tobacco-free initiative adviser, and her team in the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean for their continued support and efforts in implementing the approved action plan on tobacco control.
HMC’s Tobacco Control Centre has pledged to continue its efforts and to remain committed to fighting against tobacco use through treatment and counselling services for smokers as well as community awareness activities and research projects. The centre will also continue to provide training to healthcare professionals across Qatar and the Eastern Mediterranean region to improve their skills and competencies in this field. This will help in the delivery of high-quality tobacco cessation services, which in turn will help reduce the number of smokers and the incidence of tobacco related diseases.
The re-designation of HMC’s Tobacco Control Centre as a collaborating centre has been a result of the efforts of all staff members of the centre who offered their full support to deliver various activities across Qatar and the region. They have also continued and even doubled their efforts during the Covid-19 pandemic to ensure the continuity of care. The management of HMC’s Tobacco Control Centre thanked all staff members for their hard work and important role in the re-designation process.
WHO collaborating centres include research institutes, universities, and academies and are designated to carry out activities in support of WHO's mandated international health agenda. "The designation as a WHO collaborating centre for treating tobacco dependence highlights that HMC’s Tobacco Control Centre is committed to implement a series of activities to promote smoking cessation and raise awareness on the negative impacts of tobacco use across Qatar, the region and the globe. This commitment also includes the delivery of training activities for healthcare professionals in the field of smoking cessation and tobacco dependence treatment to reduce the rates of tobacco use and support the WHO international health agenda," a press statement noted.