Submitted by: Human Rights and Tobacco Control Network, Action on Smoking and Health (US) and Unfairtobacco The 17th World Conference on Tobacco or Health concluded in South Africa on March 9th by adopting the Cape Town Declaration on Human Rights and a Tobacco-Free World. The Declaration, proposed by the Human Rights and Tobacco Control Network, […]
Category: Advocacy
ILO must shake off tobacco industry yoke
Mary Assunta and Ulysses Dorotheo Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA) On 1 November the International Labour Organization (ILO)’s Governing Body will make a decision about continuing or ending its relationship with the tobacco industry. However, the reference document (GB.331/POL/5) prepared by the ILO’s secretariat, the International Labour Office (the Office), to assist the […]
India: steep decline in tobacco consumption in India reported in second Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS 2017)
Authors: Chaturvedi Pankaj , Sarin Ashima, Seth Sanjay, Gupta PC On 8th June 2017, results from the second Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS 2) of India were released. GATS is a global standard for systematically monitoring adult tobacco use and tracking key tobacco control indicators. India is the world’s largest democracy, and the second largest […]
Australia: progress on Tasmania’s tobacco free generation legislation
Kathryn Barnsley, University of Tasmania In 2012 and 2014 we reported that the Australian state of Tasmania was developing mechanisms for implementing the tobacco free generation (TFG). Tasmania has been paradoxically both a leader in legislative reform and a laggard in allocating resources to tobacco control. The Public Health Amendment (Tobaccofree Generation) Bill 2014 was […]
Industry-funded International Tax and Investment Center responds to criticism by attempting to muddy the waters
Karen A Evans-Reeves, Anna B Gilmore and Andy Rowell Tobacco Control Research Group, University of Bath, The tobacco industry is under attack. In just two weeks, in May 2016, its tactic of challenging any law that threatens its profits, took a big hit. The arbitration panel, that tobacco giant Philip Morris International (PMI) had hoped […]
20 myths about smoking that will not die
Originally published as two columns on The Conversation, we bring you the definitive list of 20 myths about smoking that will not die by Simon Chapman, University of Sydney —- Across forty years I’ve come to recognise many factoid-driven myths about smoking that just won’t die. If I asked for a dollar each time I […]
How to dramatically reduce smoking without banning tobacco sales
Micah Berman, Ohio State University Last November, the Board of Health for Westminster, a town in central Massachusetts, proposed prohibiting all tobacco sales – even e-cigarettes – in the town. Westminster’s three-person Board of Health said that the proposal was meant to protect the next generation from tobacco and nicotine products. The board expressed frustration […]
Jamaica: United Way charity under pressure over tobacco industry links
Tobacco industry corporate philanthropy and social responsibility has been under the international spotlight recently with the revelation that the American Red Cross continues to accept tobacco industry donations, despite concerns of the International Red Cross that US Red Cross risks damaging the global reputation of the network. Accepting tobacco industry donations is particularly problematic for charitable […]
Urgent action to amend Austria’s tobacco control laws
Prof. Manfred Neuberger writes: Since 2007 Austria has received the poorest score on the Tobacco Control Scale. While smoking prevalence and tobacco consumption decreased on average in the European Union, an opposite trend has occurred in Austria. Child smoking has increased dramatically since the 1990s. Cigarettes are available around the clock in thousands of vending […]
Tobacco industry confronted with child labour
By Laura Graen, www.forchangemakers.com In late 2014, the tobacco industry was confronted with the revelation of child labour on US tobacco farms, detailed in a well-researched 139 page report published by Human Rights Watch (HRW). The USA is not alone; most major tobacco producing countries use child labour in tobacco growing. In other words, […]