Margaretha Haglund, Maggan (1948–2022) The International Network of Women Against Tobacco (INWAT) announced on Wednesday 7th September that life-long tobacco control advocate Margaretha Haglund, or Maggan, as she was known, passed away on Saturday, 3 September. Maggan was a long-term pioneer in tobacco control, working in the field for nearly 50 years […]
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129 organizations send letter to Spanish President denouncing Spain’s intention to become a “tobacco dealer state” along French Border
Laurent Huber, Raquel Fernández Megina, Esteve Fernández, Cristina Martinez Martinez In June 2022, the Spanish Ministry of Finance announced that 203 new tobacco retail licenses were to be added to the 13,000 already operating in Spain. Of these new tobacconists, 30 will be concentrated along the French-Spanish border, dramatically increasing the concentration along the French border, […]
R J Reynolds allegedly attempts to pay Pastor to speak out against U.S. menthol ban
An investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (BIJ) has revealed that Detroit Pastor Rev. Horace Sheffield, a prominent Black civil rights activist, was offered as much as $250,000 to speak out against the proposed federal menthol ban in the United States (U.S.). Back in May 2022, Rev. Sheffield had written an editorial in support […]
Interference by Big Tobacco in South Asia warrants a closer look
Aishwarya Ashok, Upendra Bhojani, Shivam Kapoor and Pranay Lal South Asia experiences unprecedented levels of tobacco industry interference and the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the sheer vulnerability of the region. When Bangladesh was on the brink of a nationwide lockdown, two Transnational Tobacco Companies (TTCs) lobbied the government to continue cigarette production claiming them to be […]
Canada publishes proposed regulations to require a health warning directly on every cigarette
Rob Cunningham On 10 June 2022, Canada announced proposed regulations for its third round of picture warnings, together with a requirement for a health warning to appear on every cigarette, a world first. The draft regulations are subject to a 75-day consultation period, ending 25 August 2022. Final regulations are expected to be adopted in […]
Bangladesh: Bidi Industry Forces Workers to Demand Tax Reduction
ABM Zubair In Bangladesh, the bidi industry has been capitalising on the financial vulnerabilities of its workers to shield itself against any taxation or tobacco control measures. The Bidi industry has been criticized for abusing human rights by offering extremely low wages, the average in Bangladesh being US$ 0.77-1.57 per day according to a 2019 […]
The Tobacco Enforcement Reporting Movement (TERM): An Early Warning System to Track Digital Tobacco Marketing
Nandita Murukutla, Sharan Kuganesan, Namrata Kumar, Vaishakhi Mallik, and Rebecca Perl At the World Health Organization’s 150th Executive Board meeting, in January 2022, the Director-General remarked that 60 countries are on track to reduce tobacco use as per agreed targets. While this is undoubtedly good news, significant challenges persist advancing tobacco control measures among the […]
A Q&A with Tobacco Control’s Editor-in-Chief, Professor Ruth Malone
To mark the 30th anniversary of the first publication of Tobacco Control journal we asked current Editor-in-Chief (EiC), Professor Ruth Malone, about her background, what being EiC really means day-to-day, where she would like to take the journal during her remaining tenure and finally, for authors, some key advice if you are thinking of preparing […]
Brookline introduces Tobacco-Free Generation law
Jon Berrick, Chris Bostic, Michael Chou, Richard Daynard, Lissy Friedman, Mark Gottlieb, Anthony Ishak, Tamu Green, Kate Silbaugh & D J Wilson Why Brookline? Brookline, Massachusetts is a relatively affluent and well-educated town within the greater Boston metropolitan area. It has repeatedly been at the forefront of anti-tobacco legislation, having been a municipal member of […]
New Zealand: Ground-breaking action plan may help country achieve its Smokefree 2025 goal
Richard Edwards, Janet Hoek and Andrew Waa On December 9 2021, Associate Health Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall launched the New Zealand (NZ) Government’s action plan to achieve its Smokefree 2025 goal. The Action Plan responded to consultation on a discussion document published in April 2021 that outlined draft proposals. The NZ government committed to a […]