Mauritius Honoured With Bloomberg Philanthropies Award for Global Tobacco Control Efforts

26 June 2025
Government of Mauritius (Port Louis)

The Ministry of Health and Wellness has been internationally acclaimed for its outstanding efforts in tobacco control, with the prestigious 2025 Bloomberg Philanthropies Award for Global Tobacco Control. The announcement was made on 23 June 2025 during the World Conference on Tobacco Control held in Dublin, Ireland.

Mauritius is among six global recipients of the Award, which acknowledges organisations demonstrating exceptional progress in implementing evidence-based strategies to reduce tobacco use the leading cause of preventable death worldwide.

In a statement at the event, the Founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies and World Health Organisation (WHO) Global Ambassador for Noncommunicable Diseases and Injuries, Mr Michael R. Bloomberg, stated that the global tobacco control movement has helped save tens of millions of lives, making it one of the most successful public health efforts in history. "The winners of this year's Awards for Global Tobacco Control prove how much progress is possible," he said.

Accepting the award, the Senior Chief Executive of the Ministry of Health and Wellness, Mr Sarwansingh Purmessur recalled that Mauritius' achievement underscores its leadership and commitment to safeguarding public health through robust tobacco control policies. "Let us together make the world free of the death and disease caused by tobacco," he said.

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The recognition highlights Mauritius' groundbreaking adoption of plain tobacco packaging in 2023, making it the first country in Africa to implement this high-impact measure. This bold move sets a regional precedent and spurred similar initiatives in neighbouring countries.

Tobacco use continues to pose a global health threat, causing more than seven million deaths annually, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Although global smoking rates have declined from 22.8% in 2007 to 16.4% in 2023, approximately one billion people still use tobacco products.

The Bloomberg Philanthropies Awards, launched in 2009, champions progress aligned with WHO's MPOWER strategies and the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, including monitoring, protection, cessation support, public awareness, advertising bans, and taxation.

Read the original article on Government of Mauritius.

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