The award was presented at the Annual Conference of the Israel Medical Association for Smoking Cessation and Prevention (part of the Israeli Medical Association), held last Thursday in Eilat.
Pictured: Miri Ziv, Israel Cancer Association (ICA) Director General receiving the award from Dr. Yael Bar-Zeev, Chair of the Israel Medical Association for Smoking Cessation and Prevention
Apart from all regular activities in numerous areas that the ICA initiates and promotes, it also leads the fight against the tobacco pandemic on all fronts, through mass-media information campaigns promoting smoking prevention and cessation; lobbying for anti-smoking legislation and promoting law enforcement; supporting research; developing unique programs; distributing public information materials; holding training sessions to reduce smoking prevalence among teenagers, and other activities.
The ICA's activity has significantly contributed to reducing smoking rates in Israel, from 45% in 1983, when the ICA was among the first 10 countries in the world to enact legislation prohibiting smoking in public places, to today's much lower rate of 18.7%.