Philip Morris International’s partnerships with local authorities in Europe violate Article 5.3 of the FCTC

Nefely Taravira, Louis Laurence and Filippos T Filippidis Article 5.3 of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) explicitly recommends that parties should not form partnerships with or participate in activities of the tobacco industry. Although more than 180 signatories have ratified the FCTC, including the European Union (EU) and all […]

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Tobacco control in Portugal: stagnating with partial indoor smoking bans

Teresa Leão and Henrique Barros In Portugal, one person dies every hour due to a smoking-related disease. In 2019, 13,559 individuals died from a smoking-related illness (11.7% of total deaths for the year), with smoking attributed as the top cause of age-standardized healthy life years lost. In addition, 15% of smoking-related deaths are caused by […]

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“BAT in Blood”: British American Tobacco in Belarus

Last month, the US, UK and Canada announced sanctions targeting individuals and entities understood to be financing Belarussian dictator Alexander Lukashenko. This legislation follows similar action from the EU in June. These sanctions build on reports of police violence against protesters, mass arrests and even torture, with a U.N. official comparing Belarus to a ‘totalitarian’ […]

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Global Youth Tobacco Survey-4: A Glimmer of hope for India

Ravi Mehrotra and Kavita Yadav The fourth round of the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS-4) was conducted in 2019 by the International Institute for Population Sciences under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of India. These data provide a useful cross-sectional picture of youth tobacco use, and repeat surveys at regular intervals provide useful […]

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Smuggling Networks Linked to China Tobacco Revealed in OCCRP Investigative Series

Charles Turner The China National Tobacco Corporation has grown into the world’s biggest cigarette company by feeding the addiction of China’s approximately 300 million smokers. But now the state-owned giant is ready to take over the rest of the globe. Since jumping on China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” in 2015, CNTC brands have increasingly been […]

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Foundation for a Smoke Free World (funded by Philip Morris International) recruiting for its “Advisory Board for Smoking Cessation Research”

Tim McAfee & John Baker The Foundation for a Smoke Free World (FSFW), wholly funded by Philip Morris International (PMI), is attempting to recruit physicians from 12 countries to serve on its “Doctors and Health Professionals Global Poll 2021 National Advisory Board” (NAB). The NAB is characterized as an 8-month “study” beginning in June 2021 […]

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Smoke-free homes Innovation Network (SHINE) Charter: Priorities for future collaboration

Rachel O’Donnell, Sean Semple, Thilo Kroll and Kate Frazer, on behalf of the Smoke-free Homes Innovation Network (SHINE) Co-Investigators and Collaborators* The UK and Ireland are both widely regarded as world leaders in tobacco control measures, introducing comprehensive smoke-free public places legislation between 2004 and 2007. Substantial gains were made through these policy changes leading […]

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