29 January 2019 – WHO selected Dr Jawad Al-Lawati, Senior Consultant at the Ministry of Health in Oman to receive the Regional Director’s Special Award for 2018 at a regional workshop in Oman from 21 to 23 January 2019. The award was handed over to Dr Al-Lawati by H.E. Dr Ahmed bin Obaid Al Saidi, Minister of Health in Oman, together with H.E. Eng. Mohsen bin Mohammed Al Shaik, President of Muscat Municipalities and Dr Akjemal Magtymova, the WHO Representative in Oman. This award was presented to Dr Al-Lawati in recognition of his outstanding contributions and commitment to tobacco control in his country and at global and regional levels.
Dr Jawad Al-Lawati served as an elect member of the Bureau of the Conference of the Parties, where he represented the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region for the past four years. During this time, Dr Al-Lawati worked with and supported Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) from the Region, to push the regional tobacco control agenda forward in line with the commitments made in the WHO FCTC. He now serves as an elect regional coordinator, representing the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region, in the current Bureau of the Conference of the Parties, elected by the Conference at its eighth session from 1 to 6 October 2018 in Geneva, Switzerland.
Dr Al-Lawati’s many efforts and achievements include:
assisting the Ministries of Health in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and the Syrian Arab Republic to develop a national tobacco control strategy and plan of action
promulgating the legislation on banning smoking in public places, (as a member of the Muscat Municipal Council, representing the Ministry of Health) which later came into effect through joint efforts and covered all four municipalities
implementing national programmes on tobacco control and the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases, specifically diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease
keeping tobacco control a priority on the health agenda in Oman through advocacy, implementing surveillance systems, engagement with multiple stakeholders and ongoing activities
