ASOG holds the TPC PDF Third Research Workshop

On 19 February 2025, the Ateneo Policy Center’s Tobacco Control and Governance held the Tobacco Prevention and Control Policy Development Fellowship’s (TPC PDF) Third Research Workshop virtually via Zoom. The half-day online workshop served as a productive checkpoint session for the program for the Fellows to present the findings of their respective research activities and to seek recommendations and feedback from stakeholders of the tobacco control community. Partners from the Department of Health – Health Promotion Bureau (DOH-HPB) and Disease Prevention and Control Bureau (DOH-DPCB), Vital Strategies, TPC PDF Advisory Board members, and representatives from tobacco control allies were in attendance.

The Third Research Workshop is part of a series of events prepared for the TPC PDF, an 8-month-long fellowship program launched last July 2024 to support the evidence-generation activities of the Philippines’ National Tobacco Prevention and Control Strategy 2030 (NTPCS 2030). Two Fellows, Mr. Veincent Christian Pepito and Dr. Veronica Prasad, were selected amongst multiple participants for their excellent policy research proposals and have since been making steady progress on their research plans. During the Third Research Workshop, they presented their findings and received feedback and insights from all partners in attendance.

Various stakeholders and representatives from allied organizations raised questions and shared thoughts in response to the findings of the Fellows’ respective research projects, making notable observations about the prospects of effective smoking cessation initiatives in the country and suggesting potential policy levers to address the current gaps in smoking cessation efforts. The team and the attendees from the tobacco control community look forward to supporting the Fellows in their next steps for their research into smoking cessation in the country, highlighting opportunities for applying their research to current and upcoming smoking cessation and related initiatives.