about us

Iranian Anti-Tobacco Association, as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), was founded in 1983 by efforts of numerous physicians and academic figures in order to fight with tobacco and to promote the public awareness about the tobacco-induced diseases and widespread harms of tobacco smoking in health, cultural, social and economic spheres.

Along with the disclosure of tobacco-induced harms, more sympathetic and interested persons, academicians, physicians, clergymen and benevolent people joined IATA and began their cooperation with it. Now, IATA’s Board of Trustees includes more than fifty well-known figures from academic, cultural and social fields.

Iranian Anti-Tobacco Association is not dependent on any organization or institution and its expenditures are supplied by volunteers and benevolent persons. Despite the limited sources, IATA has had many achievements, including cooperation in preparation and approval of anti-tobacco laws and regulations in order to ban tobacco use in public places and to decrease tobacco smoking prevalence effectively and to take measures for preventing the privatization of tobacco industry in Iran.

After passing difficulties and obligatory displacements and despite the paucity of financial sources and even lack of an appropriate and independent office, finally, the Iranian Anti-Tobacco Association was fixed at the current office in Tehran in order to pursue its goals for prevention and control of tobacco consumption as an essential initiative in the social health area.

To realize the organizational goals, IATA’s Board of Directors, in addition to interact with mass-media, such as the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, has an extensive contact with other organizations and institutions, among them are the Iranian Parliament, the Presidency, seminaries, Ayatollahs, Imams of Friday Prayers, the Iranian Police, the Basij Resistance Force, Ministries, Municipalities and various governmental and non-governmental organizations.

Outlook

Achieving a tobacco-free society, kept safe from health, social, economic and environmental harms of tobacco products

IATA’s Composition

All real and legal persons interested in work in the field of tobacco control and prevention – with any social, scientific, academic, cultural, therapeutic, educational, promotional, and developmental viewpoints – can collaborate with IATA and assume themselves as members of it. All of the IATA’s activities are non-political and non-profit.

The composition of IATA is as follows:

• The General Assembly and the Board of Trustees as the highest decision-making body of IATA.
• The Board of Directors consisted of five principal members and one alternate member.
• The Secretary-General who is selected by the Board of Directors.
• The principal and alternate auditors who are selected by the General Assembly.

Goals

• Education and knowledge-promotion

• • To promote social and scientific knowledge of community people towards tobacco-related problems and issues;
  • Continuous information dissemination through translation of scientific documents, publishing informative books and booklets, holding seminars and congresses, cooperation with media and press, and publishing a monthly magazine titled ‘The Red Card’.

• Prevention of tobacco consumption and encouraging people to stop smoking

• • To offer anti-tobacco plans and projects – aimed at tobacco control and prevention – to related institutions;
  • To prevent tobacco smoking among youngsters (especially adolescents) and to encourage smokers to quit using scientific methods and to develop smoking cessation clinics.

• To attract the collaboration of governmental and foreign organizations in order to tackle tobacco issues:

• • To attract cooperation and partnership of governmental authorities, NGOs, and national or international institutions to tobacco-induced problems and social, economic, therapeutic, educational, scientific and cultural aspects of such problems.
  • To cooperate and counsel with Iranian or foreign experts to optimal use of available facilities and credits in the field of tobacco control and prevention.