Asia Pacific Cities Alliance for Tobacco Control and NCDs Prevention (APCAT) was established in 2016 by The Union Asia Pacific Office in Singapore as a network and forum for subnational leaders working to advance tobacco control in the region. Members include representatives from 65 cities in 12 countries with support from Ministries of Health in Indonesia, Cambodia, Myanmar, Lao PDR and Nepal; Bloomberg Philanthropies and The Union.
Recognising that subnational leaders’ play a key role in the sub-national and national heath and development agenda, the goal of APCAT is to build stronger political commitments, new partnership opportunities, sustainable and effective usage of resources and stronger health system performance and outcomes.
APCAT has these three objectives:
- ACT to implement a comprehensive tobacco control policy with effective use of resources
- CREATE innovative solutions to prevent noncommunicable diseases
- TACKLE industry’s interference in policy development and implementation by establishing rules and regulations
APCAT works to achieve these objectives in the following ways:
- Country to country: share best practices while implementing tobacco control and NCDs prevention.
- City to city: Mayors visit within the country and region to motivate their peer and share lessons learnt.
- Policy to practice: widen program coverage and gain political will to translate policies into practice.
- Sub-national to national: leaders work with national policy makers to improve NCD and tobacco control implementation.
- Mayors to Media: Mayors disseminate data and policy outcomes regularly with the media to help reiterate their efforts and showcase the policy impact in their city.
The 5th APCAT Summit will be held 1-3 December 2020 in Bharatpur, Nepal, under the theme “Leadership and Accountability”.
Find out more about APCAT through this summary of work.
APCAT has issued the following guidance on COVID-19, including the role of Mayors and Members of Parliament throughout the crisis and lessons from Singapore.