KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Head of the Convention Secretariat of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), Dr Haik Nikogosian is to visit Jamaica from May 7 to 9, 2014.

The official visit is a follow-up to the recent high level consultations on tobacco and trade and comes as Jamaica prepares to put in place additional tobacco control legislation in furtherance of its commitment under the FCTC, the Ministry of Health said in release Friday.

“Tobacco is a developmental issue which has the potential to impact the economy and the labour force as well as the social and legal systems. It is important that we tackle this issue if we want to achieve our National Development Goals outlined in Vision 2030,” said Health Minister Dr Fenton Ferguson.

According to the Ministry, the WHO tobacco control chief was invited Jamaica Dr Ferguson invited to “assess the position of the country with respect to tobacco control as well as provide some guidance to our future action in this area, including the issue of the illicit trade in tobacco”.

Dr Nikogosian will be participating in a number of events while in the island including a tobacco stakeholders meeting, a meeting with Government Ministers and Members of Parliament as well as the Ministry of Health technical team.