The American Red Cross is under increasing pressure to refuse tobacco industry donations, to bring it into line with guidelines of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and most of the 189 national affiliates. Accepting tobacco funding is in clear breach of the first of the seven Fundamental Principles of the […]
Category: Tobacco Industry
Tasmania: Legislation drafted to implement a Tobacco Free Generation
Kathryn Barnsley Breathe Well, Centre of Research Excellence for Chronic Respiratory Disease and Lung Ageing, University of Tasmania In 2012 we reported that Tasmania was leading the way towards an endgame for smoking, by developing mechanisms for implementing the Tobacco Free Generation proposal (TFG). Those who are familiar with the Tobacco Free Generation proposal by […]
India: Powerful ‘Voice of Tobacco Victims’ campaign wins BMJ health advocacy award
Pankaj Chaturvedi, Prakash C Gupta, Sanjay Seth, Ashima Sarin Voice of Tobacco Victims Voice of Tobacco Victims Campaign (VOTV) was launched on 31st May 2009 by a dozen cancer survivors of Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai under the leadership of Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi. The campaign aims to make Tobacco Victims (cancer survivors and their relatives) […]
New Zealand: Dirty Politics raises conflict of interest concerns
Nathan Cowie, MPH. Cowie Research and Communications Disclosure: The author has previously undertaken paid employment for Centre for Tobacco Control Research, University of Auckland, and Action on Smoking and Health New Zealand. Investigative journalist Nicky Hager released a book in August 2014 on the seamier side of New Zealand politics. Dirty Politics: How attack politics […]
Canada: What were they smoking? Experts want health on tobacco litigation agenda
Garfield Mahood President, Campaign for Justice on Tobacco Fraud In the early 1980’s, Canada had one of the globe’s highest rates of per capita tobacco consumption. But in less than two decades, in response to aggressive campaigning by health NGOs, Canada experienced arguably the largest decline in use anywhere. Gains were made on many […]
Germany: Pre-schools and Cigarette Vending Machines
by Raoul A. Walsh, Phd Depending on the type of national regulation, cigarette vending machines pose serious problems for tobacco control including: increasing cigarette availability, facilitating smoking relapse, providing cigarette access points for children and other non-smokers, normalizing cigarette purchases , and serving as a promotional tool for the tobacco industry. There is a wide […]
Uganda: MP accuses British American Tobacco of blackmail
A Ugandan MP who has put forward a private members bill to reduce smoking in Uganda has accused British American Tobacco (BAT) of blackmail. Dr Chris Baryomunsi revealed he has received a letter from BAT advising that the company will stop doing business with farmers in his constituency because his bill has meant existing arrangements are ‘increasingly […]
Debunking the tobacco industry take on Australia’s plain packaging laws
Not having succeeded in preventing Australian plain packaging laws from being enacted, the tobacco industry has now turned its efforts to convincing other nations to not follow Australia’s lead. Last week it was reported that smoking had actually increased under the plain packaging laws – a claim that has been expertly taken down by ABC […]
Dirty Secrets… The Smoke-Less Affair
Post written by Shalini 90% of oral cancer cases among Indian men are attributable to tobacco consumption, according to the World Health Organization. Since 2010, India has been engaged in a major war against smokeless or oral tobacco products, including a ban on gutka. Gutka is a popular oral tobacco product that is a highly addictive […]
US: Child Workers in Danger on Tobacco Farms
A Human Rights Watch report which included interviews with more than 100 child tobacco farm laborers in the South of the US has ruled that tobacco farming is so hazardous to children, it must be stopped. The report documents how children are sickened by nicotine and toxic pesticides, work long hours in extreme heat without […]