Each year, WHO honours individuals and organizations from each of the six WHO regions for their outstanding contributions to tobacco control. The recipients of the 2026 awards are:
WHO Director-General Special award:
- His Excellency, Dr Shaya Mohsin Zindani, Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Republic of Yemen
African Region
- Dr Nare Narcisse Mathurin, Public Health Specialist, Ministry of Health, Burkina Faso
- Dr Louise Mapleh Kpoto, Minister of Health, Republic of Liberia
- Nigeria Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) Federal Republic of Nigeria
- Professor Catherine O. Egbe, Chief Specialist Scientist, South African Medical Research Council, Republic of South Africa
- Professor Olalekan Ayo-Yusuf, School of Health Systems and Public Health University of Pretoria, Republic of South Africa
Region of the Americas
- Ministry of Agrarian Development and Family Farming, Federative Republic of Brazil
- Mônica Andreis, Director - President, ACT Promoção da Saúde, Federative Republic of Brazil
- Daniel Dorado, Director, Tobacco Control Campaign, Corporate Accountability, Republic of Colombia
- Dr Inti Barrientos, Medical Sciences Researcher, National Institute of Public Health (INSP), United Mexican States
- Dr Cristina Lustemberg, Minister of Public Health, Oriental Republic of Uruguay
Eastern Mediterranean Region
Shared award Islamic Republic of Iran:
- Dr Abdolhossein Khosropanah, Secretary of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution
- Dr Behzad Valizadeh, Former Head, National Tobacco Control Secretariat
- Mr Ali M. Elrghabi, Founder, Quit and Run Marathon, State of Libya
Shared award Islamic Republic of Pakistan:
- Dr Waseem Iftikhar Janjua, Senior researcher, Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI)
- Tobacco Control Cell, Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination
Shared award Republic of Tunisia:
- Professor Hatem Bouzaiene, President, Tunisian Alliance Against Tobacco
- Professor Radhouane Fakhfakh, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunisian Alliance Against Tobacco
- Dr Mounira Masmoudi Nabli (in memoriam), Vice President, Tunisian Alliance Against Tobacco
European Region
- Comité National Contre le Tabagisme, Republic of France
- Dr Svetlana Nicolaescu, Deputy Secretary General, Ministry of Health, Republic of Moldova
- Professor Florin Dumitru Mihălțan, President, Romanian Society of Pneumology, Romania
- Dr Mónica García Gómez, Minister of Health, Kingdom of Spain
- Ms Susann Koalick, Head, Nicotine Dependence Treatment and Cessation Services Klinik Barmelweid, Swiss Confederation
- Dr Allen Gallagher, Research fellow and Co-Director, Tobacco Control Research Group, University of Bath, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
South-East Asia Region
- Principal Health Secretary, Medical and Health Department, Jaipur, Rajasthan, Republic of India
- ICMR – National Institute of Cancer Prevention and Research, Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Republic of India
- People’s Health Foundation, Republic of the Union of Myanmar
- Acting Sub-Lieutenant Trakul Thotham, Kingdom of Thailand
- Tobacco Control Research and Knowledge Management Center, Kingdom of Thailand
Western Pacific Region
- His Excellency Touch Chanthy, Permanent member of the Economic, Social and Cultural Council, Office of the Council of Ministers, Kingdom of Cambodia
- Professor Chung-mau Lo, Secretary for Health, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, People’s Republic of China
- People’s Government of Shenzhen Municipality, People’s Republic of China
- City Government of Baguio, Republic of the Philippines
Shared award Socialist Republic of Viet Nam:
- Department of Legislation, Ministry of Health
- Health Policy and Strategy Institute
- Poison Control Center Bach Mai Hospital
- Tobacco Control Fund
Original article available on the WHO's website
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