March 6, 2009: Inaugural Ceremony of Global Youth Meet on Tobacco Control, 2009

The Global Youth Meet on Tobacco Control was inaugurated on March 6, 2009 at Grand Hyatt, Mumbai. Eminent dignitaries and guest who were present to grace this event included: Dr PC Gupta (President, WCTOH and Director Healis Sekhsaria Institute for Public Health), Ms. Padmini Somani (Organizing Secretary, WCTOH and CEO Salaam Bombay Foundation), Dr. Melissa Stigler (Co – Chair, Youth Programme Committee and Assistant Professor University of Texas), Ms. Monika Arora (Chair, Youth Programme Committee and Director, HRIDAY) and Ms. Bahar Shoogufan (Y4H representative). During the inaugural ceremony, a film entitled “A Heavy Price” developed and designed by Mr. Rahul Mehra from Medtronics Inc. was released, highlighting the harmful effects of tobacco use.

The two themes addressed during the technical sessions of GYM 2009 were:

Day 1 (March 06, 2009)

• Promoting smoke-free environments

The technical session was started with the plenary session which highlighted important issues related to tobacco control and the youth under FCTC and emphasized the need for promoting the smoke free environment. Eminent presenters for plenary session included Dr. Barbara Zolty, World Health Organization, Headquarters; Dr. Beatriz Champagne, InterAmerican Heart Foundation; Dr. Mira Aghi, Member, AFTC Advisory Committee; Dr. Nick Schneider, German Cancer Research Center and Ms. Sasha Bhatnagar, Y4H member. The round of individual presentation was followed by interaction and discussion between the participants and presenters.

After the plenary sessions, youth delegates were divided into five small working groups

defined on the basis of the WHO regions to chalk out action plans for creating a smoke free environment in there respected regions.

Day 2 (March 07, 2009)

• Prohibition on Tobacco Advertising

“Best Practices in Tobacco Control Youth Advocacy” was discussed during the plenary

session on the second day by renowned experts in these respective fields from around the world. These included Ms. Neena Prasad, Bloomberg Philanthropies; Mr. Bobby

Ramakant, Indian Society Against Smoking-ASHA; Ms. Monika Arora; Ms. Holly Aprea, University of Minnesota and Maximiliano Zuliani.

The theme for day two was “Prohibition on tobacco advertising”. The delegates were already divided into small working groups on the basis of WHO regions. The purpose of this session was to develop region oriented action plans specific to “Prohibition on Tobacco Advertising.”

March 6 and 7, 2009: Cultural events

Delegates had planned small cultural events for the evenings introducing their country’s culture to other participants from across the globe. Several youth participants presented a glimpse of their culture through slideshows, song & dance performances and music.

March 12, 20009: Closing Ceremony

Youth presented a snapshot of activities conducted during March 6-12 during the closing ceremony i.e on March 12, 2009. This helped them practice their presentation and communication skills. Delegates along with Chair (Ms. Monika Arora, Director HRIDAY) and Co-chairs (Dr.Melissa Stigler - Assistant Professor, University of Texas) and Mr. Aman Segal (Youth For Health Representative) of the Youth Programme Committee addressed the august gathering of global tobacco control experts.

Outcomes of GYM-2009

Few of the key outcomes of GYM 2009 are listed below:

• Youth delegates from 27 countries and 7 states of India were sensitized on the issues related to two key themes of: “smoke-free environments” and “ban on advertisements of tobacco products”

• GYM 2009 led to the development of concrete action plans by the delegates on “smoke-free environments” and “ban on advertisements of tobacco products”
• An already existing global network of “Y4H” was expanded with a new membership of 134 youth and adult participants from GYM 2009
• A discussion forum in form of GYM 2009 blog, which was established on HRIDAYY4H’s website in order to initiate discussions and brain storming among participating delegates on the conference themes and currently prevailing tobacco control scenario in their respective regions/ countries prior to GYM 2009 will continue to function as an electronic medium to connect the delegates, post conference for a period of one year
• Youth delegates were aware of the FCTC after the first day of GYM-2009 which was evident from the discussions which took place in the plenary on the second day
• Delegates were provided with an opportunity to be connected with mentors from their respective countries/ regions during 14th WCTOH to develop a mentor-mentee linkage in order to successfully take forward tobacco control efforts in their respective regions/ countries