Boston, Massachusetts, USA 26 February 2013: The Chairperson of the African Union Commission HE Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma today 26 February 2013 addressed the Governance of Tobacco in the 21st Century conference at the Harvard University in Boston, USA. The conference is hosted by the Harvard School of Public Health’s Center for Global Tobacco Control and the Harvard Global Health Institute’s Forum on Global Governance for Health, with advice and support from the World Health Organization under the theme "Strengthening National and International Policy for Global Health and Development". 

Her Excellency Dr Dlamini Zuma said that it is imperative for the world to start teaching the children at primary school level about the devastating consequences of smoking cigarettes. She indicated that cigarettes smoking is a gateway to using hard drugs. A higher number of people who are using illegal drugs started by smoking cigarettes then moved into marijuana and ultimately use hard drugs such as cocaine and heroin.
The conference is being attended by representatives from governments, intergovernmental organizations, civil society, business, and academia to discuss issues relating to tobacco smoking with the objective of:
• Enhancing knowledge, information-sharing, network-building and learning across countries, contexts and policy making arenas
• Identifying strategies to strengthen the governance of tobacco at national and international levels;
• Fostering greater policy coherence among actors working in health, trade and investment to ensure the protection of global health
The Chairperson will conclude her US visit by taking some time to meet various US government representatives and stakeholders in Washington DC to further explore working relations.