Dr. Tabaré Vazquez was named an Americas Public Well being Hero
Washington, DC, December 6, 2020 (PAHO) – The Pan American Well being Group (PAHO) marks with nice disappointment the passing of former Uruguayan President Tabaré Vázquez, who was distinguished in 2018 as a Public Well being Hero of the Americas for his combat towards tobacco and his management within the safety and promotion of well being.
“Dr. Tabaré Vázquez was a consummate defender of public well being. His lifelong work demonstrates a deep private dedication to enhance the well being and well-being, not solely of Uruguayans, but additionally of many others within the area and all over the world,” stated PAHO Director Carissa F Etienne.
In 2006 beneath his management, Uruguay grew to become the primary nation within the Americas to ban smoking in closed public locations and workplaces.
In 2010, after the implementation of measures to manage the labeling and packaging of tobacco merchandise in Uruguay, the tobacco firm Philip Morris filed a lawsuit with the World Financial institution’s Worldwide Heart for Settlement of Funding Disputes, alleging that the measures had been in breach of a bilateral funding treaty. In July 2016, nonetheless, an arbitration court docket upheld Uruguay’s proper and obligation to guard the well being of its inhabitants with measures according to the WHO Framework Conference on Tobacco Management (FCTC).
This ruling was not solely a milestone in tobacco management measures all over the world, but additionally a necessary aspect for different nations to advance their efforts to advertise related tobacco management insurance policies.
Years later, he promoted a sequence of measures to ensure the impartial packaging of tobacco merchandise, and his management prolonged to the combat towards non-communicable illnesses (NCDs) generally. He promoted measures to include entrance warning labels on meals merchandise with excessive sugar, salt and fats content material in order that they could possibly be simply recognized.
In 2017 throughout his second presidency, Vázquez hosted the WHO World Convention on Noncommunicable Ailments, which concluded with a world dedication to scale back the struggling and deaths attributable to NCDs, that are the world’s main explanation for dying.
In Could 2018, the previous Uruguayan president additionally obtained the WHO Director-Normal’s Particular Recognition for World No Tobacco Day, the one particular recognition on condition that yr.
