ITC (International Tobacco Control ) Conferences
2009 / 2007 / 2006

---

 

For a number of years this was the official website for the ITC Conference. The International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Project (the ITC Project) is the first international research program for the systematic evaluation of key policies of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) at the population level. The ITC Project is conducting longitudinal cohort surveys in 29 countries and includes over 150 tobacco control collaborators.
Content is mainly from the site's 2009 ITC conference, but also includes content from the 2007 & 2006 ITC Conferences.

The current site for the The International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Project is found at: https://itcproject.org/.

 

Background:
Tobacco is responsible for a significant and growing share of premature deaths in virtually every country in the world. Awareness of this fact has motivated many governments to enact aggressive and sometimes costly programs and policies to discourage tobacco use. Public health officials in different countries are increasingly being challenged to find ways to evaluate the effectiveness of their 
tobacco control interventions.

Goal of the workshop
To introduce public health officials to standardized protocols for monitoring and evaluating the impact of tobacco control programs

Objectives
Conference attendees will learn about...

• The International Tobacco Control Collaboration (ITC) multi-country and Global Tobacco Surveillance System (GTSS)
• Protocols for monitoring secondhand smoke and tobacco products; and
• Strategies to adapt evaluation protocols to meet local needs and resource constraints

 

Attendee comment by Sue Samuelson: I work for several organizations whose missions are focused on improving the workplace environment for businesses serving disadvantaged communities. I was able to network with several organizations whose public messaging could help influence our work with NGOs in many different countries and cultures.

Jump ahead to 2023.

It's been 14 years since I attended the 2009 ITC conference, and I've stayed connected to some of the people I met there because the information I gleaned was not limited to tobacco issues. I was only a few years out of college. I now have my own company helping small to mid size businesses create an online presence. I make the job much easier for my clients by assisting them in research and strategy building, marketing and promotion activities, and choosing the right ecommerce platform and related software integrations and plugins. These are skills I learned by attending workshops at the ITC.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Promoting Effective Tobacco Control Policies in Latin America and the Caribbean
Mexico City, October 13, 2009

Workshop Resources

Objective and target audience

Held in Mexico City, October 13, 2009 
Addressing the worldwide tobacco epidemic depends on disseminating, advocating for, and ensuring the effective implementation of proven tobacco control policies and programs. This workshop will provide
attendees with lessons learned from different strategies for promoting effective tobacco control measures in Latin America and the Caribbean. Tobacco control experts who participate in the International Tobacco
Control Policy Evaluation Project (ITC Project, http://roswelltturc.org, www.itcproject.org), as well as national and international civil society organizations involved in advocating for tobacco policy change, will present on the following topics: (1) survey methods for assessing policy effects, (2) tobacco crop substitution, (3) protocols for surveillance of tobacco products, (4) tobacco industry monitoring, (5) protocols for secondhand smoke exposure, (6) protocols for tobacco products labeling, (7) strategic use of mass media.

Our Planning Committee tailored the workshop to address special needs and interests in tobacco control in Latin America and the Caribbean. We will include faculty from the region as appropriate.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pre-WCTOH Workshop

Effective Implementation of FCTC Policies Pre-Conference 

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) represents a critical turning point in the history of tobacco control and has propelled the issue onto the national agenda of many lower-income countries. Countries that ratify the FCTC are obligated to adopt national-level policies such as larger and more prominent warning labels on cigarette packs, bans on advertising and promotion, elimination of misleading brand descriptors (“light” or “mild”), increased taxation, efforts to combat smuggling, limits on secondhand smoke exposure, tobacco product regulation, and increased access to treatment for addiction.

To evaluate population level impact of FCTC interventions, this workshop will include five modules to introduce participants to simple protocols that they can take home to their host country and use to measure the impact of smoke-free policies, product warnings and labeling regulations, anti-tobacco mass media, policies to prevent product smuggling and counterfeiting, and surveillance of population beliefs, attitudes and behaviors about tobacco. The Workshop will be led by investigators affiliated with the global Roswell Park Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center (TTURC, HYPERLINK "http://www.roswelltturc.org" www.roswelltturc.org) working on the ITC (International Tobacco Control) Policy Evaluation Project ( HYPERLINK "http://www.igloo.org/itcproject" www.igloo.org/itcproject), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) and World Lung Foundation.

For additional information, please email the Workshop Coordinator, 

 

Prior Workshop

Effective Implementation of FCTC Policies Pre-Conference 
Workshop Resources

 

Topic	Faculty
Welcome and introduction of faculty	Ernesto Sebrié
The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and the need for an evaluation framework to support an evidence-based treaty Geoffrey Fong
Finding resources to support monitoring, evaluation, advocacy, and dissemination efforts in your country: US-based organizations with collaboration in Latin America and the Caribbean  Champagne  Catherine Jo  Jonathan Romo Katherine Kemper CFTFK Role, Portugese, Spanish Jorge Alday
Tobacco Industry in Latin America: How to monitor and counteract its actions Stella Aguinaga Bialous , Yul Francisco Dorado
Lunch & open discussion - Eduardo Bianco
Applying the framework in specific policy domains (5 sessions)
I. Smokefree policies	Ernesto Sebrié (Eng/Esp) Mark Travers Verónica Schoj Marcelo Boado Cynthia Hallet
II. Tobacco crop substitution & alternative livelihoods policies	Marty Otañez (zip file) Horacio Mackinlay
III. Contraband and Taxes  (Illicit Tobacco Trade in Mexico)	Belén Sáenz de Miera-Juárez
IV. Packaging & labeling policies	Ernesto Sebrié James Thrasher Cristina De Abreu Perez Barbara McGaw  Caribbean Tobacco Control Project
V. Paid and earned mass media to promote tobacco  control	James Thrasher Silvia Llaguno-Aguilar Eduardo del Castillo Edna Arillo-Santillán Claudia Cedillo
Supplemental Materials (LARGE ZIp File 221MB)

2009 ITC mexico SURVEY: SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

This summary presents key findings from the first three waves of the ITC Mexico Survey – a face-to-face population-based cohort survey that began in 2006 with 1,079 adult smokers in four of the largest cities in Mexico (Mexico City, Guadalajara, Tijuana, and Ciudad Juárez), and was expanded to three additional cities (Monterrey, Puebla, Mérida) in 2008, for a total of 2,016 adult smokers across the 7 cities. On May 28, 2004, Mexico became the first country in the Americas to ratify the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). Since ratifying the FCTC, Mexico has implemented tobacco control policies designed to reduce exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, restrict advertising and promotion of tobacco products, and increase taxation and price to reduce the demand for tobacco. Mexico will introduce pictorial health warnings on cigarette packs in 2009.

In April 2008, Mexico City introduced the most progressive smoke-free law in the country, requiring all enclosed public places and workplaces, including public transport, restaurants, and bars, to be 100% smoke-free. This summary describes how smokers in Mexico have responded to these policies. The findings are intended to assist policymakers in implementing effective tobacco control policies in Mexico, as well as to provide evidence that helps advocates and policy makers to promote the FCTC around the region. Surveys are available at www.itcproject.org.

ITC Mexico Survey

• Survey Mode: Face-to-face interviews
• Survey Sample: 1,079 adult smokers (2006); 2,016 (2008)
• Wave 1 Survey Dates: September – November 2006
• Wave 2 Survey Dates: November – December 2007
• Wave 3 Survey Dates: November – December 2008
• Project Partners: Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública and University of South Carolina

Objective: To create a system for comprehensive surveillance and evaluation of tobacco control initiatives in Mexico as they are implemented in accordance with their FCTC obligations.

These policies include: 1) increasing taxes on cigarettes; 2) restrictions on tobacco advertising and promotion; 3) pictorial health warning labels on cigarette packages (2009); and 4) smoking areas with separate exhaust systems at the federal level and comprehensive smoke-free legislation in Mexico City.

What is the ITC Project?

The International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Project (the ITC Project) is the first-ever international cohort study of tobacco use, being conducted in 20 countries. It is designed to evaluate the impact of policies implemented under the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

Each ITC Survey follows standardized protocols and includes rigorous measures to assess the impact and identify the determinants of effective tobacco control policies in the following areas:

• Health warning labels and package descriptors
• Smoke-free legislation
• Pricing and taxation of tobacco products
• Education and support for cessation
• Tobacco advertising and promotion

ITC Survey findings will provide an evidence base to guide policies enacted under the FCTC, and to systematically evaluate the effectiveness of these legislative efforts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Not all smokers are aware of the health risks and almost half have no plans to quit

In 2002, smoking prevalence in Mexico was 36% among adult males and 13% among adult females1 . The ITC Wave 3 Survey (2008) found that only 66% of smokers were daily smokers (34% smoked less than daily) and daily smokers in Mexico smoke 8.6 cigarettes per day – the lowest among all ITC countries surveyed.

Mexican smokers generally are aware of the health risks of smoking, although a considerable percentage continue not to know that smoking causes stroke (39%), impotence (36%), and coronary heart disease (18%). Most smokers are aware of the effects of second-hand smoke on non-smokers – 89% of smokers agreed that smoking causes lung cancer in non-smokers.

The ITC Wave 3 Survey found that only 22% of smokers plan to quit in the next six months and 30% of smokers plan to quit sometime in the future (beyond six months). These figures are low in comparison to other ITC countries. 26% of smokers visited a doctor in the year before the survey. 40% of these smokers received advice to quit smoking from their doctor. Of these smokers, 25% received a pamphlet on quitting and 11% received a referral to other support for quitting. Although 29% of all smokers surveyed had heard of a quitline, only 2% have received information from a quitline. 4% of all smokers surveyed received quitting information from the internet and 6% received information from a clinic. Smokers are seeking more government support on tobacco control – 71% of smokers agreed or strongly agreed that the government should do more tackle the harms of smoking.

Most smokers do not notice health warning labels and want more information on packs

Current tobacco warning labels in Mexico consist of text-only warnings (no graphics) on 50% of the back of the pack, which generally blend into the pack and contain text with a small font2 . The ITC Survey found that Mexico has one of the lowest levels of noticing warning labels of all ITC countries. Only 43% of smokers reported that they have noticed these labels “often or very often” in the last month. Only 10% of smokers state that the labels make them think about the health risks “a lot”, considerably lower than most countries with pictorial warnings. And 47% say that they want more health information on cigarette packages. These results provide additional justification for new pictorial warnings that will appear in Mexico in 2009.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mexico City’s 100% smoke-free law has dramatically reduced smoking in public places

In April 2008 (7 months before the Wave 3 survey) Mexico City became the first city in Mexico to enact a 100% ban on smoking in enclosed public places and workplaces. Figure 3 shows that the smoking ban in Mexico City has significantly reduced smoking in public places. Smoking in restaurants decreased most dramatically, with smoking decreasing in Mexico City from 78% in 2007, before the ban, to 9% in 2008, after the ban.

Despite not having a 100% ban, smoking in restaurants also decreased in Tijuana (32% to 14%), Juárez (39% to 13%), and Guadalajara (72% to 39%), but not to the same extent as in Mexico City. Dramatic reductions in smoking also occurred in bars and cantinas in Mexico City, with smoking decreasing from 99% before the ban to 33% after the ban. In contrast, in Guadalajara, Tijuana, and Juárez—where no 100% smokefree law has been passed—rates of smoking in bars and cantinas continued to be very high (90%, 80%, and 74% respectively).

The three cities that were added to the ITC Mexico Survey in 2008—Monterrey, Pueblo, and Mérida, also reported high smoking rates in bars (95%, 84%, 61%). This adds to the evidence of the effectiveness of the smokefree law in Mexico City.

Smokers in Mexico support comprehensive smoking bans

The ITC Survey shows that smokers’ support for 100% smoke-free public places increased in Mexico City, Tijuana, Juárez, and Guadalajara between 2007 and 2008. In 2007, more than three-quarters of smokers (77%) agreed or strongly agreed that people have the right to breathe smoke-free air. This percentage increased to 87% in 2008. In 2008, smokers in the seven surveyed cities most strongly supported complete smoking bans in workplaces (85%), followed by restaurants (73%), hotels (68%), and bars, cantinas and discos (47%). This high level of support among smokers themselves indicates that stronger smoke-free laws, with stronger enforcement, would be supported by the Mexican public (since the great majority of non-smokers are supportive of such laws).

Implications for Tobacco Control

• Further public education and support for cessation

Gaps in knowledge of smoking-related health risks and low quit intentions among smokers suggest the need to strengthen public awareness of the harms of smoking and the benefits of quitting. Smokers want the government to assist smokers in quitting

• Implement the already-approved pictorial warning labels as quickly as possible

ITC research has demonstrated that pictorial warnings are linked to higher knowledge of health effects and greater motivation to quit3 . Relatively low levels of awareness of common smoking-related health risks and smokers’ support for more health information on tobacco labels point to the importance of implementing the new pictorial warnings. These pictorial warning labels, consistent with the FCTC Article 11 Guidelines for effective warning labels, should lead to greater awareness of the harms of smoking and greater motivation to quit. The ITC Survey will be evaluating the impact of these new warning labels in future survey waves.

• Enact a national comprehensive smoke-free law

Strong smoker support for 100% smoke free public places and smokers’ high awareness of how breathing second-hand smoke is dangerous for nonsmokers suggest that the national tobacco control policy should be strengthened to remove the provision for designated smoking areas. As compared to designated smoking areas with ventilation, Mexico City’s complete smoking ban not only protects more people from the dangers of secondhand smoke exposure, but it also allows for easier enforcement while creating a level playing field for all businesses, big and small. Guidelines for Article 8 of the FCTC require all indoor workplaces and public places to be 100% smoke-free, with no exceptions. The guidelines state that approaches other than 100% smoke-free environments, including ventilation, air filtration, and the use of designated smoking areas (whether separate ventilation systems or not), have repeatedly been shown to be ineffective4 .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2007

 

Pre-APACT Workshop

Evaluating the Evidence Base for FCTC Policies
A workshop preceding the 
9th Asia Pacific Conference on Tobacco or Health
October 17, 2007
Howard Plaza Hotel Taipei (Taipei, Taiwan)
Pre-Conference Workshop Agenda-

Workshop overview:

• The value of research to policy advocacy
• The contribution of regular surveillance surveys: The Global Tobacco Surveillance System (GYTS, GHPS, and GATS)
• The contribution of cohort surveys: The ITC Project
• Smoke-free laws: using research evidence to counteract industry arguments
• Health Warnings: research methods for testing the impact of different styles of warnings
• Methods for measuring the effectiveness of smoke-free laws
• Methods for analyzing tobacco products to support evidence-based approaches to tobacco product regulation

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Evaluating the Evidence Base for FCTC Policies
Pre-APACT Workshop—Wednesday, October 17, 2007

 

Faculty
	Ron Borland Ron Borland PhD is the Nigel Gray Distinguished Fellow in Cancer Prevention, The Cancer Council Victoria; a Professorial Fellow in the School of Population Health and Department of Information Systems, The University of Melbourne; and an honorary Senior Lecturer in the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine at Monash University. He joined the then Anti-Cancer Council of Victoria as a Behavioral Scientist in 1986, and has been here ever since in various roles including Deputy Director of the CBRC, and inaugural Director of the VicHealth Center for Tobacco Control, before he took up his current position in 2004. Professor Borland is one of the Principal Investigators of the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Project. His work is designed to understand the impact on smokers of tobacco control policies, help design better systems for regulating tobacco, understanding what is needed for optimum community-wide tobacco control, and identify barriers to stronger governmental tobacco control initiatives. He also has an active interest in developing and improving mass disseminable cessation aids, and the potential of automated personalized computer technologies and the internet for advancing cancer control. He has presented at major international conferences on visions for the future of tobacco control.
	Naowarut Charoenca Dr. Naowarut Charoenca is currently working at the Faculty of Public Health, Mahidol University as an Associate Professor.  She has been actively involved with tobacco control activities in Thailand for about 15 years.  Dr. Charoenca’s main research interest is second-hand smoke exposure in all age groups and policy relevant to protection of such exposure. Her previous studies include: Passive smoke exposure in restaurants and nightclubs in Bangkok; Measurement of nicotine and carbon-monoxide in restaurants and nightclubs in Bangkok; Prevalence of smoking among Buddhist monks in Thailand; Community coalition of health workers against smoking; Lower respiratory illnesses and second-hand smoke exposure in Thai children under five; Point of purchase store surveillance in Bangkok; Exposure to tobacco smoke among women and children in the home; Tobacco smoke pollution in workplaces in Thailand: results from the Global Air Monitoring Survey of PM 2.5; and System development to inform policy makers regarding levels of PM 2.5 in youth venues.  Some of her on-going research projects are: Web site development to disclose tobacco industry documents; Compliance with public smoking restrictions in government services buildings in Thailand; and Second-hand smoke exposure among bar workers and patrons by urine cotinine analysis.
	Gregory N. Connolly Gregory N. Connolly, D.M.D., M.P.H. is an instructor in the Department of Society, Human Development and Health and a member of the Division of Public Health Practice at the Harvard School of Public Health. He is also a Dr. William Cahan Distinguished Professor awarded to Harvard School of Public Health by the Flight Attendants Medical Research Institute (FAMRI). His research focuses on the prevention and control of tobacco and tobacco related disease. He conducts research on tobacco product design, reduced risk tobacco products, global tobacco issues, efficacy of tobacco control interventions and the structure and marketing practices of the tobacco industry. Dr. Connolly is the principle investigator on three research projects:  Analyzing internal tobacco industry documents made available through the Master Settlement Agreement between the major tobacco manufacturers and the states’ attorneys general. The project objectives are to assess how tobacco manufacturers design their products and how product design promotes use among different groups. Monitoring the design and marketing of emerging "harm-reduction" tobacco products, also known as Potentially Reduced Exposure Products (PREPs), and new conventional tobacco products. Investigating the economic effect of state clean indoor air laws on the hospitality and tourism industry including restaurant and bar business employment.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ABOUT US

The International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Project (ITC)

To read about the most current results of The International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Project (the ITC Project) go to: www.itcproject.org/

---

The ITC Project is an international collaboration of tobacco control researchers whose mission is to evaluate the psychosocial and behavioral effects of national-level tobacco control policies throughout the world. The initial phaseof the ITC Project is a random-digit-dialed phone survey of over 8,000 adult smokers throughout four countries: Canada, United States, United Kingdom, and Australia.This initial study follows a panel of participants over the next five years, and incorporates Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) that are likely to be implemented over the next four years in at least one of the four countries with a series of multiple natural experiments. The study focuses not only on whether a given policy has its desired effect, but also on how and why those policy effects are achieved.

The ITC Research Team includes tobacco control researchers across the four countries. The Principal Investigators are Geoffrey Fong, University of Waterloo, Canada, Ron Borland, The Cancer Council Victoria, Australia, Michael Cummings, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, United States, and Gerard Hastings, University of Stirling, United Kingdom. Co-Investigators are Ann McNeill and Susan Anderson, United Kingdom, Gary Giovino, Andrew Hyland, Frank Chaloupka, Fritz Laux, and Hana Ross, United States, Mary Thompson, Steve Brown, David Hammond,Sharon Campbell, Mark Zanna, and Paul McDonald, Canada, and Mohammad Siahpush and Melanie Wakefield, Australia.

 In each country, the ITC Project is conducting prospective cohort surveys to assess the impact and identify the determinants of effective tobacco control policies in each of the following areas:

• Health warning labels and package descriptors
• Smoke-free legislation
• Pricing and taxation of tobacco products
• Communication and education
• Cessation
• Tobacco advertising and promotion

---

 

DAY 2 Workshop Session Facilitators, Session Presentations and Materials—July 11, 2006

 

How to use data and locate resources for your projects 
Tobacco Control Collaboration. Geoffrey Fong, Mary Thompson, University of Waterloo, Canada. Buppha Sirirassamee, Institute for Population and Social Research, Mahidol University, Thailand. Kin Foong, National Poison Centre Universiti Sains Malaysia. Jiang Yuan, National Tobacco Control Office Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, China

Presentations:

Geoffrey Fong: 
Surveys of the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Project (ITC Project): Basic Principles and Aspects of Creating an ITC Survey

Foong Kin:
Challenges in Constructing a Probability Sample: Experiences from the 
ITC Malaysia Survey - (pdf version)

Jiang Yuan:
Introduction to the ITC China Project - (pdf version)

Buppha Sirirassamee:
The Challenges of Training Survey Interviewers and Supervisors: Experiences from the ITC Southeast Asia Project in Thailand - (pdf version)
ITC China Smoker Survey
Aspects of creating and implementing an ITC Project survey (pdf version)

 

Measuring levels of secondhand smoke exposure
Mark Travers and Andrew Hyland, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, USA. 
Measuring levels of secondhand smoke exposure has been vital to the initiation of smoke-free policies. Learn how to access equipment for measuring exposure to secondhand smoke, and how these measurements can be used to support smoke-free policies in your country.

Presentation:

Measuring exposure to secondhand smoke

About this session	Air monitoring protocols
Global Air Monitoring Study	Selected References
visit: tobaccofreeair.org

How to use data regarding product monitoring and testing 
Cliff Watson, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USA and Richard O’Connor Roswell Park Cancer Institute, USA. Learn about resources available for testing and monitoring cigarette brands in your country.

Presentation:
Product Testing and Monitoring
Presentation outline 

Global Tobacco Surveillance System (GTSS) 
Wick Warren, Center For Disease Control, USA 
Learn on how to utilize GTTS data for program development and evaluation.

Presentation:
Global Tobacco Surveillance System

Papers:
Global Tobacco Surveillance System (GTSS): 
Purpose, Production, and Potential

Patterns of global tobacco use in young people and implications for future chronic disease burden in adults

Workshop Session Special Lunchtime Speaker

Anna White, Coordinator of the Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control (GPTC) program.

Presentation:
Smoke Damage:Marketing Tobacco in the Third World

Presentation goals:

1. Outline marketing strategies that tobacco companies are using in low and/or middle-income countries.
2. Describe ways that the tobacco companies are anticipating or circumventing measures in the FCTC, e.g. tobacco advertising bans, around the world.
3. Understand the importance of youth involvement in efforts to monitor tobacco industry marketing practices worldwide

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CONFERENCE SPEAKERS AND FACILITATORS - Day 3, July 13
Day 2, July 11 Speakers and Presentations 

Michael Thun, American Cancer Society
Special Speaker

Presentation: 
Estimating the death toll from tobacco
About Michael Thun

Moderator: 
Samira Asma, Centers for Disease Control, USA

Linda Waverley, Research for
International Tobacco Control (RITC)

Tom Glynn, American Cancer
Society, USA

Michele Bloch, National 
Cancer Institute, USA

Sylviane Ratte, Responsable 
Programme Tabac 
Département Prévention
Institut national du cancer (INCa)

How do I get research projects going in my country? Next steps.
Michael Cummings, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, USA.

 

---

---

 

More Background On ITCConference.com

 

ITCConference.com operated for many years as the primary online platform for a series of international meetings devoted to evaluating tobacco-control policy. While at first glance it resembled a conventional conference website, a deeper look shows that it served a much broader purpose. It became a training ground for researchers, a resource bank for governments, and a bridge between academic evidence and real-world regulation. Long after the individual events concluded, the site remained valuable because it preserved the working materials of a movement that was learning, in real time, how to measure the impact of public health law across borders.

The tone of the site was practical and mission-driven. Visitors did not arrive to browse glossy marketing copy or tourism photos. They came for protocols, presentations, survey instruments, and policy frameworks. The content reflected an era in global health when countries were beginning to cooperate more closely, sharing comparable metrics so that the success of legislation in one nation could inform action in another.

---

Origins and Institutional Context

The conferences highlighted on the website grew out of the expanding international collaboration among scientists studying how tobacco policies influence behavior. During the early 2000s, the global public health community faced a crucial problem: many governments were adopting stronger laws, but there was limited standardized evidence demonstrating which measures worked best and why.

The ITC initiative answered that need by organizing longitudinal cohort surveys across multiple countries. Rather than relying on isolated national reports, the collaboration aimed to build a harmonized system that could compare outcomes internationally. The conferences became the human infrastructure supporting that scientific ambition.

ITCConference.com therefore emerged as the communications backbone for workshops held alongside major global tobacco-control gatherings. It helped coordinate experts from universities, cancer institutes, ministries of health, and non-governmental organizations. The site archived who taught, what they taught, and how attendees could replicate the methods at home.

---

A Living Curriculum Rather Than a Static Event Page

One of the most striking aspects of the website was how educational it was. Agendas were detailed to the session level. Faculty biographies outlined expertise in epidemiology, behavioral science, air-quality monitoring, economics, and communications. Download areas contained toolkits, fact sheets, and examples of legislation.

Reading through the materials, you can trace the emergence of a global curriculum built around several recurring pillars:

• measuring exposure to secondhand smoke

• evaluating warning labels

• assessing taxation and pricing strategies

• understanding advertising and promotion

• supporting cessation services

• monitoring industry interference

The conferences were not merely lectures. They were capacity-transfer exercises. Participants were expected to return to their own countries equipped to run surveys, advocate for policy change, and train others.

---

Geography and Host Settings

Although the administrative leadership behind the ITC collaboration was rooted in North American and Australian research centers, the workshops intentionally rotated across regions. Mexico City, Taipei, and venues linked to broader world conferences all appear prominently in the site’s history.

These locations were strategic. By embedding training sessions within major international meetings, organizers ensured access to policymakers who might not otherwise attend a specialized research seminar. A delegate could spend the morning in diplomatic negotiations and the afternoon learning how to design an air-monitoring study.

---

Who Attended

The audience extended far beyond academics. Government health officials, customs authorities, advocacy organizations, statisticians, clinicians, and communications specialists participated. The mixture was deliberate: policy evaluation requires cooperation from multiple sectors.

Many attendees were early in their careers. Testimonials preserved on the site show how transformative the experience could be. Participants described discovering networks that later shaped their professional paths. Some moved into leadership positions in NGOs, others into governmental roles, and still others into research management or consulting.

---

The Mexico Focus – A Case Study in Real Time

Among the most developed collections of material on the site were the resources surrounding the Mexico survey waves. These documents demonstrated how the collaboration operated: baseline data were gathered, new legislation was introduced, and subsequent waves measured behavioral and attitudinal shifts.

The narrative that emerged was powerful. Smoke-free policies dramatically reduced indoor smoking. Support among smokers themselves increased. Awareness gaps about health risks persisted, strengthening the argument for pictorial warnings. The conferences used this evolving evidence as a teaching laboratory for other countries contemplating similar reforms.

---

Methodological Depth

For professionals accustomed to modern online learning portals, it is easy to underestimate how innovative the site was at the time. It centralized guidance that previously required personal contacts or institutional membership.

Sessions explained sampling, questionnaire design, interviewer training, and longitudinal follow-up. Others covered laboratory testing of products, strategies for detecting contraband, and ways to interpret air-quality metrics in policy debates. The level of detail meant that a ministry with limited prior experience could realistically launch its own surveillance initiative.

---

Relationship to Advocacy

Although grounded in research, the conferences never pretended that evidence alone changed laws. Repeated sessions addressed communication strategies, media engagement, and coalition building. Presenters analyzed how industry narratives could be countered with data.

Workshops on mass media, for instance, demonstrated how survey findings might be translated into campaigns that resonated culturally while remaining scientifically accurate. This blending of rigor and advocacy became one of the hallmarks of the ITC approach.

---

Faculty and Expertise

The list of speakers read like a who’s-who of global tobacco-control scholarship in that era. Behavioral scientists, economists, oncologists, and legal specialists appeared alongside representatives from international agencies. Their participation reinforced the credibility of the enterprise and signaled to attendees that they were joining a serious, long-term effort.

Importantly, faculty often returned year after year. The continuity allowed methods to be refined and created informal mentorship pathways for younger professionals.

---

Multilingual and Cross-Cultural Reach

The materials acknowledged that implementation would differ from country to country. Fact sheets and guidance documents appeared in multiple languages. Sessions were sometimes delivered bilingually. Regional experts were integrated into teaching teams.

This inclusiveness helped the collaboration avoid the perception that knowledge was flowing only from high-income nations. Instead, countries contributed lessons learned from their own experiments, enriching the collective understanding.

---

Digital Preservation and Afterlife

Even after newer project websites became the primary communication channels, ITCConference.com retained value because it preserved earlier stages of the movement. Researchers examining the history of tobacco control can see how priorities shifted, how measurement improved, and how networks expanded.

It is, in effect, an institutional memory bank. Few global health initiatives maintain such transparent documentation of their formative years.

---

Popularity and Professional Reputation

While not a consumer site generating public reviews, its reputation circulated widely within policy and research communities. Invitations to present were marks of distinction. Governments cited participation as evidence of commitment to evidence-based regulation.

Because attendees often went on to influential roles, alumni networks amplified the site’s prestige long after individual workshops ended.

---

Cultural and Social Significance

The broader significance of ITCConference.com lies in how it illustrates the globalization of public health governance. The early 21st century saw increasing recognition that diseases linked to commercial products required coordinated international responses. The conferences embodied that philosophy, turning abstract treaty commitments into operational plans.

They also democratized expertise. Instead of concentrating knowledge in a few institutions, they distributed tools widely, enabling diverse regions to produce credible local evidence.

---

A Bridge Between Eras

Today, digital collaboration platforms, webinars, and open-access repositories make information sharing routine. ITCConference.com reminds us that such infrastructure had to be built gradually. The site represents a transitional period when face-to-face workshops were still central but online archiving began to extend their reach indefinitely.

---

Continuing Relevance

For modern practitioners, revisiting the materials can still be instructive. Many challenges remain familiar: how to maintain survey comparability, how to resist industry influence, how to communicate risk effectively, and how to translate findings into enforceable law. The foundational thinking captured there continues to inform contemporary debates.

---

 

ITCConference.com was more than a meeting announcement board. It chronicled the creation of a global learning community determined to evaluate tobacco policy with scientific rigor and practical urgency. Through agendas, presentations, and regional reports, it mapped the pathway from treaty language to measurable impact.

As an archive, it preserves the collaborative spirit that allowed researchers and officials from many countries to speak a common methodological language. As a historical artifact, it documents how international health governance became data-driven. And as a professional legacy, it continues to inspire those who believe that well-designed evidence can guide better public policy.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~