AUA Gerald and Patricia Turpanjian School of Public Health Is Addressing Tobacco Use among TB Patients

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The American University of Armenia (AUA) Gerald and Patricia Turpanjian School of Public Health’s Avedisian Onanian Center for Health Services Research and Development (CHSR) is awarded competitive grant funding from the Global Bridges and Pfizer Independent Grants for Learning and Change (IGLC) to continue its work in the field of tobacco dependence treatment in Armenia. The grant was awarded following a competitive review of proposals for projects that will help more Europeans improve their health by stopping tobacco use with support from healthcare professionals.

The CHSR project is one of the 11 new projects (full list of projects) focusing on treating tobacco dependence in the World Health Organization (WHO) European Region. The projects will involve a broad range of healthcare professionals in multiple European countries, including primary healthcare physicians, health workers in hospitals, nurses, pulmonary specialists and providers treating pregnant women. The projects will also leverage the crucial role of healthcare professionals as non-smoking exemplars and tobacco control advocates, and will enhance organizational change, actively engaging a variety of professional and policymaking institutions. 

In the scope of this project the CHSR will design, implement and evaluate an advocacy and training program for integrating tobacco control measures into tuberculosis (TB) control in Armenia. The Principal Investigator of the project Arusyak Harutyunyan, MD, MPH highlighted:  

“The newly proposed project will be the first attempt in Armenia to integrate tobacco control/ smoking cessation in the context of TB control in Armenia and it will build on the projects implemented by Turpanjian School of Public Health with support from Global Bridges and Pfizer IGLC and the strong partnership with the National TB Control Center and the National Institute of Health.”

Global Bridges is a science-based initiative that mobilizes healthcare professionals and organizations dedicated to advancing effective tobacco dependence treatment and tobacco policy change. Global Bridges offers competitive grant funding and guidance for evidence-based capacity building with programmatic support from its founding partners, the Mayo Clinic and the American Cancer Society. The organization’s grantees and network members work in more than 63 countries, including low- and middle-income countries (www.globalbridges.org).

The AUA School of Public Health works actively to improve population health and health services in Armenia and the region through interdisciplinary education and development of public health professionals to be leaders in public health, health services research and evaluation, and health care delivery and management.