Saint Lucia’s Ministry of Health and Wellness has won a 2021 World No-Tobacco Day Award in the Americas from the World Health Organization (WHO). The Ministry of Health, one of six winners of the award in the Americas, received the recognition for achieving key advances in tobacco control efforts.

“The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) extends its congratulations to the government of Saint Lucia for this meritorious achievement,” said Dr. Yitades Gebre, PAHO/WHO Representative for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean Countries (ECC). “Saint Lucia has emerged as one of the most outstanding contributors and leaders in the implementation of tobacco control among the ECC.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced award winners are Costa Rica’s mSalud interinstitutional Team, the Ministries of Health of Saint Lucia and Paraguay, the National Resource Fund of Uruguay, two cities in California and a Brazilian doctor are the winners of the World No Tobacco Day Awards 2021.

The winners of the 2021 Americas region in Costa Rica are as follows:

1) Inter-institutional team mSalud

2) The Ministry of Health

3) The Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS)

4) The Institute on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (IAFA)