Heather Lusardi, Anna Gilmore, Ulysses Dorotheo The Foundation for a Smoke-Free World (FSFW), established with almost US $1 billion from Philip Morris International, is essentially operating as a front group for Philip Morris International’s (PMI) interests. Unsurprisingly, therefore, overtures to the public health community have been repeatedly, firmly and publicly rejected: WHO has made clear […]
Category: Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
The Philippines: Pioneering the Tobacco Endgame
Kathleen de Leon and Jacky T Sarita In global tobacco control, the Philippines is known as a particularly challenging environment due to long-standing tobacco industry influence. Over 15 years ago, it was termed the “strongest tobacco lobby in Asia”. The 2019 Southeast Asia Tobacco Industry Interference Index ranked the Philippines fifth among nine nations […]
Pakistan: time for stronger enforcement on tobacco control
Musaddique Hussain, Abdul Majeed, Imran Imran, Muhammad Fawad Rasool, Ikhlaq Hussain, Qasim Barkat, Ximei Wu Tobacco use continues to grow in Pakistan due to lack of awareness about its dangers, low prices, aggressive tobacco industry marketing efforts and steady population growth. According to Dr. Abid Saeed Nima, WHO’s acting chief in Pakistan, new estimates show […]
World: International Labour Organization (ILO) ends tobacco industry funding
Alice Grainger Gasser, corresponding author. Contributing authors: Leonce Dieudonné Sessou, Fastone Goma, Lutgard Kokulinda Kagaruki, Marty Otanez, Hellen Neima At the end of October, the Governing Body of the International Labour Organization (ILO) endorsed its new integrated strategy for the tobacco sector. The decision ends ILO’s involvement in over a decade of tobacco industry corporate […]
World: Gandhi’s legacy and a Tobacco-Free World
From Indian public health researchers Amit Yadav and Prashant Kumar Singh, a call to action for world leaders to take action at the UN General Assembly on the eve of Gandhi’s 150th birthday. “A correspondent who is interested in a variety of reforms asks what the nation pays for her tobacco bill. I find that […]
The 2020 Tokyo Olympic & Paralympic Games: time for Japan to showcase smokefree hospitality
Authors: Shuhei Nomura and Haruka Sakamoto with Yusuke Tsugawa, Naoko Iwanaga, Seiichiro Kuchiki, Ichiro Kawachi, Kenji Shibuya Despite its outstanding health record in other areas, Japan is a global laggard in tobacco control, and does not meet standards set by the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), particularly for smoke-free public spaces. The […]
How should governments deal with multinational consulting firms that work for the tobacco industry?
George Thomson, Louise Delany Department of Public Health, University of Otago, Wellington, New Zealand george.thomson@otago.ac.nz The New Zealand Ministry of Health is currently using a consulting firm EY (formerly Ernst & Young) to research the impacts of tobacco taxation, despite EY’s work locally and internationally for tobacco companies. This decision may breach the Framework […]
The Kuala Lumpur Charter on Smoke-Free Homes
Semple S1 Ph.D., Abidin E2 Ph.D., Amos A3 Ph.D., Hashim Z2, Siddiqi K4 MBBS, Ismail N5 Ph.D., on behalf of the participants of the Smoke-Free Homes Workshop (Kuala Lumpur, 7-9 May 2018)* For more information see @SFHWorkshopKL In accordance with article 8 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, governments, health practitioners and wider society […]
South Africa: the complex politics impeding tobacco control progress
Yussuf Saloojee National Council Against Smoking South Africa has long been a front runner in tobacco control in Africa. It was an early adopter of comprehensive legislation, which resulted in a 40% drop in cigarette smoking prevalence, and, in turn, between 1997 and 2010, in declines in mortality from lung and oesophageal cancer, stroke, […]
Austria: government chooses tobacco industry interests over citizens’ health
German version (click here) Austria achieved a dismal milestone in March 2018, when its government overturned modest (and long overdue) legislation for smoke free hospitality venues. The new laws had been due to come into force in May 2018. Among high income countries, Austria already stood as a grim example of woefully inadequate tobacco control. […]