On July 7th, 2019, a meeting was held with the presence of IATA’s directors in the session room of the NGO, in which the directors described the activities and goals of the Iranian Anti-Tobacco Association and discussed the operational plans of this NGO.
Hujjat-al-Islam Robatian, the director of the Unit for Communication with the Seminary, announced that the Seminary has well-embraced cooperation in the fight against tobacco in the near future. He added, “If this project is implemented, we will have significant success in controlling tobacco use in the country.” Also, the executive directors of Tehran and Qom branches of IATA explained their activities.
Mohammad-Reza Masjedi, IATA’s Secretary-General, thanked other directors and expressed his satisfaction for the activities and emphasized on the continuation of the various plans. He added, “Given the activities of the PAD project (Tobacco Use Prevention in Schools) in the neighborhoods phase, and as a result, the awareness of families on tobacco harms, we can globally introduce Varamin as a tobacco-free city in the near future.
Also, IATA’s Executive Director suggested the creation of an Education Unit to provide scientific materials for organizations, schools, and other applicants as well as an up-to-date tobacco database for the use by various universities and organizations.
Some of the suggestions that other IATA’s directors made are as follows: Adoption of a program for the doctoral student admission in the field of tobacco, the presence of IATA’s activists in religious ceremonies and distributing brochures related to religious prayers and information on the harms of tobacco, and awarding prizes to PAD-Yaran of Varamin in order to appreciate their fruitful activities.
