Finn Edler von Eyben Public health in Denmark received an early Christmas present on 18 December 2019, when most political parties agreed on a new tobacco control plan for the country. The plan contains a raft of new measures, including plain packaging of tobacco products, a ban on point of sale advertising, strengthened smoke-free public […]
Category: Legislation and Policy
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 […]
Canada: government releases consumer research on vaping and tobacco
Cynthia Callard, Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada The Canadian nicotine market was transformed virtually overnight after the government of Canada legalized the sale of vaping products in May 2018. Previously, Canadians were able to buy unregulated vaping devices and liquids online or in a modest number of illegally-operating shopfronts. Their choice of device, however, was […]
Responding to public health emergencies in an age of distrust: the current lung damage epidemic in the United States
Bill King, Coral Gartner and Ron Borland In April 2019, the first case appeared of what soon became an epidemic of highly unusual lung damage cases in the United States, with the patients first presenting for medical treatment with a form of lipoid pneumonia. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food […]
USA: Setting the Sun on Big Tobacco
Megan Arendt, ASH USA The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) held their National Conference on Tobacco or Health (NCTOH) in Minneapolis, MN from August 27 – 29, 2019. It was an exciting week for public health experts, advocates, researchers, and policymakers to network and learn from each other, in turn strengthening public health policies […]
Indonesia: the continued expansion of JUUL from the USA
Elizabeth Orlan, Rachel Grana, and Mark Parascandola In early July, we authored an industry watch article JUUL from the USA to Indonesia, published in Tobacco Control. It outlined moves by JUUL to formally enter the Indonesian market, where the products were already being sold both online and in vape shops. JUUL has now officially launched […]
Beverly Hills, CA is the New Norm for Tobacco Sales, Not the Outlier
Megan Arendt, ASH Late on June 4th, 2019, the Beverly Hills City Council unanimously voted to ban the sale of tobacco products in their city. The lifesaving sales ban will apply to gas stations, convenience stores, pharmacies, and grocery stores starting January 1, 2021. Exemptions are in place for hotel concierge services and a few […]
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 […]