11 June 2018 – WHO selected Professor Mohammad Reza Masjedi Secretary-General of the Iranian Anti-Tobacco Association and Tobacco Control Research as one of six winners of the World No Tobacco Day award for 2018, initiated by Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. The award was handed over by Dr Christoph Hamelmann, WHO Representative of Islamic Republic of Iran, in recognition of outstanding contributions and commitment to tobacco control in the country.
Professor Masjedi’s many efforts and achievements include:
close collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Medical Education in the Supreme Court's vote in 2017 to confirm the Ministry's advice on banning the importation and production of tobacco molasses and aromatic tobacco products, which have been shown to be harmful to health;
outstanding role as Secretary-General of Iranian Anti-Tobacco Association in designing and conducting the Prevention of Tobacco Dependence project (PAD) in collaboration with the education and health departments in Varamin (the project aims to reduce the use of tobacco products at schools based on the peer-peer education approach and makes important contributions to address the increasing trend of smoking in adolescents in the country);
outstanding role in the establishment of the Iran Noncommunicable Diseases Alliance that is an excellent platform for strengthening nongovernmental and community-based organizations in their efforts to raise awareness and reduce of common risk factors of noncommunicable diseases, including tobacco.
