Author Archives: ash
Making Trade Work for Public Health
Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the world today. Developing countries are now the top tobacco-consuming nations, where men and women are addicted to tobacco at higher rates than in developed countries, and have less success stopping. Nations have responded in domestic law by implementing warning labels and anti-teen smoking measures,… Read the full article >
Treaty Shopping: How Philip-Morris Cherry-Picked Worst Case BITs
Tobacco giant, Philip-Morris, has recently bought actions under investor-State arbitration mechanisms in investment treaties to challenge laws limiting (in Uruguay) or prohibiting (in Australia) the display of its trademarks in tobacco packaging. This has caused the Australian government to take a strong stance against any investor-State arbitration provisions in free trade agreements (FTAs), including exemptions from the proposed investor-state settlement… Read the full article >
As Nations Try to Snuff Out Smoking, Cigarette Makers Use Trade Treaties to Fire Up Legal Challenges
Andriy Skipalskyi was feeling proud, even triumphant, when he arrived last March at the World Conference on Tobacco or Health in Singapore. Ukraine’s parliament had just voted to approve a public smoking ban, and its president had just signed a bill to outlaw tobacco advertising and promotion. These were revolutionary steps in chain-smoking Eastern Europe.… Read the full article >
Big Tobacco’s Abuse of Trade Treaties
FairWarning uncovers more evidence on how the tobacco industry abuses trade laws to block anti-tobacco measures! Read the full article here>
Tobacco Lawyers Attack Expert Witness Before Testimony in Quebec
A Quebec judge has agreed to hear the testimony of a prominent witness in a massive class-action lawsuit against Big Tobacco, a man the industry has labelled as biased and ill-informed. Robert Proctor is a historian from California’s Stanford University who has published extensively on the tobacco industry in books and academic papers. He’s also… Read the full article >
Anti-Smoking Progress Stalls Among U.S. Adults: Report
Although the number of adult smokers in the United States declined slightly between 2005 and 2011, there was no significant change between 2010 and 2011, health officials said Thursday. Smoking dipped from 20.9 percent to 19.3 percent of the U.S. population between 2005 and 2011, but in the last year the decline slowed to 19… Read the full article >
CDC: Airports That Allow Smoking Pose Health Risks
Ventilation at five major U.S. airports with designated smoking areas does not protect passengers from the health risks of secondhand smoke, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns Tuesday. The CDC, in its first study comparing air quality at airports with and without smoke-fee policies, finds that pollution levels adjacent (within a meter or… Read the full article >
Posted in Related News | Tagged Clean Air, Secondhand Smoke Exposure, Smoking Ariports, Smoking Exposure
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Global Pact Adopted to Curb Illicit Tobacco Trade
SEOUL: More than 170 countries Monday adopted what World Health Organisation (WHO) chief Margaret Chan called a “game-changing” global pact to combat the illegal tobacco trade. The treaty envisages an international tracking system which aims to halt the smuggling and counterfeiting of tobacco products — a trade which accounts for 11 percent of the total… Read the full article >
Tobacco Control: WHO Director-General Addresses History-Making Conference
Dr Margaret Chan Director-General of the World Health Organization Address to the Fifth Session of the Conference of the Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Seoul, Republic of Korea 12 November 2012 Excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted to address this fifth session of the Conference of the Parties… Read the full article >
Posted in Featured News & Events, Related News | Tagged COP5, Director General, FCTC, Margaret Chan, WHO
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Pressure to End $30m Tobacco Investment
THE NSW government is considering abandoning tobacco investments after a backlash from health experts and anti-smoking campaigners. It has for the first time admitted to having nearly $30 million invested in tobacco companies. The figures were provided in an answer to a budget estimates question asked by the Greens NSW MP John Kaye. The NSW… Read the full article >
Posted in Blog, Related News | Tagged Australia, Australian Government, Big Tobacco, Eye on Tobacco, NSW, Tobacco Investment
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Tobacco Companies Reach Supreme Court To Out Throw $50B Lawsuit
Two of the largest foreign-owned tobacco companies have asked the Ontario’s top court to discharge a $50-billion lawsuit instigated against them by the provincial government. According to the lawyers of British American Tobacco and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, they are going to put up a case that their respective companies shall not be included in… Read the full article >
Posted in Related News | Tagged Big Tobacco, Canada, Court, Global News, Lawsuit, Supreme Court, Tobacco Companies
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Reynolds American Subsidiary Sues E-cig Maker
A subsidiary of Reynolds American Inc. is suing an Alabama electronic-cigarette retailer, accusing the company of trademark infringement of Reynolds’ Camel and Winston brands, and unfair and deceptive trade practices. Reynolds Innovations Inc. filed the lawsuit Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of N.C. The case has been referred to a… Read the full article >
Posted in Related News | Tagged Domestic News, E-Cigarette, E-Cigarettes, Reynolds, Reynolds American, Reynolds American Inc., RJ Reynolds, Sue, US News
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Most Women Exposed to Second-Hand Tobacco Smoke in China
Nearly two-thirds of women of reproductive age in China are exposed to second-hand tobacco smoke at home and over half are exposed in the workplace, which raises the risk of complications in pregnancy, including stillbirths and infant death. The findings, released by the World Health Organisation on Tuesday, are from a tobacco survey conducted in China in 2010 by the centers for disease… Read the full article >
Posted in Related News | Tagged China, Global News, Secondhand Smoke, Secondhand Smoke Effects, Secondhand Smoke Exposure, Women
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What is the FCTC?
The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) is the world’s first global public health treaty. It is also the first treaty negotiated under the auspices of the World Health Organization (WHO) and is one of the most widely adopted treaties in the United Nations system. The treaty entered into force in February 2005. It was… Read the full article >
Smoking Bans Really do Slash Heart Attacks and Strokes, Largest Ever Study Finds
The more stringent the laws, the better the health benefits, American researchers found Hospital admissions for heart attacks fell by 15%, strokes by 16% and those for respiratory diseases such as asthma by 24% Smoking bans dramatically reduce the number of people hospitalised for heart attacks, stroke and respiratory diseases such as asthma and emphysema, new… Read the full article >
Posted in Related News | Tagged American Heart, Bans, Health, Heart Disease, Report, Smoking Bans, Smoking Health, Smoking Study, Stroke, Study, U.S. News
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In Graphic Warnings Case, Tobacco Lawyers Fight Full D.C. Circuit Review
Lawyers for major tobacco companies said Monday they do not want the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to touch a panel’s ruling that went against the government’s controversial graphic warning labels requirement. A divided three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit in August ruled against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s requirement that cigarette… Read the full article >
Posted in Related News | Tagged Circuit Court, Court, Court Rulings, Courthouse News Service, FDA, Graphic Warning Labels, Plain Packaging, U.S. News
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Women Who Quit Smoking Live Decade More
Women who stop smoking before middle-age live about 10 years longer than women who continue to smoke throughout life, a new study from the United Kingdom finds. Smoking until middle age does reduce lifespan somewhat — women in the study who smoked until age 40 were about 1.2 times more likely to die over a 12-year period,… Read the full article >
‘Smoking Will Kill Up to a Billion People’
Smoking, which is described as the biggestpublic health disaster in the history of the world with its perpetrators likened to terrorists, will kill up to a billion people worldwide this century unless governments across the world stamp down on the half-trillion-dollar tobaccoindustry, cancer experts have warned. John Seffrin, chief executive of the American Cancer Society, issued this warning… Read the full article >
Posted in Related News | Tagged Eye on Tobacco, Eye on Tobacco Industry, Global News, International News, Smoking, Smoking Kills, U.S. News, WHO
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China Leader’s Job at Odds With Tobacco Ties, Brookings Says
The brother of Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang, who oversees public health, should be removed from his post as a top official in China’s state-owned tobacco monopoly to avoid conflicts of interest, a report published by the Washington-based Brookings Institution said. Li, set to succeed Wen Jiabao as premier early next year, could boost his… Read the full article >
Posted in Related News | Tagged China, Eye on Tobacco, Eye on Tobacco Industry, Global News, International News
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Smokers Left Gagging by Not-So-Plain Cigarette Packets
TOOWOOMBA’S smokers have been left gagging as new not-so-plain cigarette packets start to filter into stores. A packet of Winfield Blues is no longer the colour its name would suggest – instead a sickly looking olive green sets the ailing backdrop for photos of health-plagued smokers in various states of decay. The new packets, which… Read the full article >
Posted in Related News | Tagged Australia, Global News, International News, Plain Packaging, Tobacco Ads
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European Commission: Will Move Ahead With Draft Revision of Tobacco Directive
BRUSSELS–The European Commission still intends to move ahead with a draft revision of the tobacco directive in the coming weeks, spokesman Olivier Bailly said Thursday, as he insisted no-one within the European Union’s executive is seeking to block new the rules on tobacco companies. The tobacco directive is at the center of a cash-for-influence probe… Read the full article >
FCA Video Highlights Tobacco Epidemic
A billion people will be killed by tobacco this century. It has been estimated that the tobacco industry makes approximately $6,000 for every death. This must stop! The tobacco treaty is among one of the best tools the world has today to prevent this senseless massacre that hurts the citizens of the world and our… Read the full article >
Posted in Blog | Tagged FCA, FCTC, Global News, International News, Tobacco Epidemic, Tobacco Treaty, WHO, WHO’s Tobacco-Free Initiative
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FCA’s Video Message to COP5 Delegates
Watch the video which highlights the devastation that the tobacco epidemic has caused.
Posted in Related News | Tagged COP5, FCA, FCTC, Smoking Epidemic, Tobacco Epidemic
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Secondhand Smoke Exposure For Just 20 Minutes Leads To Breathing Impairment, Study FInds
It only takes 20 minutes of secondhand smoke exposure before breathing is impaired, a new study shows. Researchers from the University of Athens, the Hellenic Cancer Society and the Harvard School of Public Health had 15 healthy study participants go inside a chamber meant to simulate a bar or car filled with secondhand smoke particulates for 20… Read the full article >
Smoking, Diabetes Are Risk Factors for Poor Leg Circulation: Study
New research confirms that smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure and highcholesterol levels can all raise men’s risk for poor circulation in the legs, otherwise known as peripheral artery disease (PAD). According to the American Heart Association, PAD involves a narrowing of the peripheral (outside the heart) arteries, most commonly the vessels of the pelvis or legs.… Read the full article >
Posted in Related News | Tagged Health Report, Report, Smoking and Health, Smoking Report
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