November 17, 2023 – The contact groups continued with the publication of the written submissions and revised synthesis documents. The Stop Tobacco Pollution Alliance (STPA) and its allies spent much of the day reviewing everything as we were able. (Available online for those following along). Today’s debates centered around how and
November 16, 2023 – Contact Groups continued today in the run up to the plenary, which was quite brief. The plenary only included a review of each Contact Groups’ progress and the next steps on the agenda for each group. Contact Groups 2 and 3 have completed their first round
November 15, 2023 – Day 3 brought back-to-back to back Contact Group sessions. The atmosphere is intense with member states eager to maximize their time available in Nairobi for INC-3 negotiations. Today, we also learned that the day would be extended to accommodate another evening Contact Group 1 session. Robust
November 14, 2023 – Per usual INC was off to a slow start, running behind on the agenda which was revised overnight to allow for added plenary time this morning to accommodate additional member state interventions and observer interventions. Despite the delays, we were very pleased to see Panama, Uruguay,
November 13, 2023 – The third negotiating session of the UN Treaty to End Plastic Pollution, held at United Nations Environmental Programme headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya began today, commencing another 7 days of discussion on ways to combat the devasting impact of plastic pollution on our planet. Though we are
Tobacco Products Violate the Human Rights of Women and Girls in France 53 Organizations call on The UN Committee on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) to make recommendations for France to protect the right to health of women and girls PARIS, FRANCE – OCTOBER 16,
By: Laurent Huber, Executive Director of ASH I have now spent over two decades working on UN treaties and international processes with the aim of ending the negative health, social and economic consequences of tobacco products, and I am often asked: why? Why don’t you just concentrate at the local
How US Healthcare Professionals Can Strengthen Tobacco Cessation Interventions Tobacco kills over 22,000 people every day globally, and over 480,000 people annually in the United States alone,1,2 more than the combined deaths caused by AIDS, alcohol, car accidents, illegal drugs, murders and suicides.2 Out of all the American children who
Media Contact: Megan Manning ManningM@ash.org (202) 390 – 9513 New Report Outlines Increase in Tobacco Companies Interfering in U.S. Public Health Policymaking Safeguards are Needed to Ensure Public Health Goals are Prioritized Over Industry Profits WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 5, 2023 – Today, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) released
Statement from Laurent Huber, Executive Director of Action on Smoking and Health, Supporting British Prime Minister’s Smoke-Free Generation Proposal October 4, 2023 Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) welcomes and applauds the announcement by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak detailing his government’s plans to introduce a bill forever banning the
On August 24, 2023, The New York Times Style section published an article – “A Viral Cigarette Brand? In 2023?” – about a cigarette startup company using social media to spread its message. The article was so glowing that the company thanked them publicly. We won’t want to use the
The FDA Continues to Delay Protecting Americans from Mentholated Cigarettes August 2023 was the deadline announced by FDA to propose a rule WASHINGTON, DC – AUGUST 31, 2023 – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) missed their self-imposed deadline to propose a life-saving rule to ban menthol as a
By Kelsey Romeo-Stuppy, ASH and Dr. Raglan Maddox, ANU College of Health and Medicine While commercial tobacco use negatively impacts the right to health of all people, there are many groups whom have been intentionally targeted by the tobacco industry and their affiliates.[1] Groups have had their culture exploited for
Media Contact: Megan Manning ManningM@ash.org (202) 390 – 9513 208 Organizations Unite to Call on UN Committee to Recommend Stronger Tobacco Control Policies The UN Committee on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) is making recommendations on Racism and the Right to Health for its 182 party
August 1st is World Lung Cancer Day. Like most special days, World Lung Cancer Day is a recent addition to the calendar; the first was in 2012. Unlike the topics of many special days – for example, World Kitten Day (July 10th, sorry we missed it) – lung cancer is
Author: Vela Sree, ASH Policy Intern In many societies, smoking has been traditionally portrayed as a male habit, leading to a lack of awareness and recognition of women as tobacco users. This social perception contributes to the stigma and social disapproval faced by women who smoke, making it more challenging
After planting an apple tree, it will be years before you get an actual apple. But it is very satisfying when you do, and that first apple will taste all the sweeter because you planted it. ASH and our supporters planted a seed over five years ago when we launched
Eleven years old is way too young to walk into a store and be able to buy a pack of cigarettes. That’s how old I was when I experimented with my first cigarette. I was a shy but very curious and smart little kid and no one in my family
Media Contact: Megan Manning (202) 390 – 9513 New Data Compilation Shows Scope of Tobacco Industry Lobbying in the U.S. Tobacco Companies Hire Hundreds of Lobbyists as They Post Court-Ordered Signs about Decades of Lies WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 14, 2023 – Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) released a
Agenda Item 4 of the Second Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment (INC2) Option 2 – Possible core obligation: banning, phasing out and/or reducing the use of problematic and avoidable plastic products I am speaking on
June 2, 2023 – A sense of forward motion. No matter how many treaties have been negotiated throughout history, each one is terra incognita. Planning and agenda setting is imperative but the people drawing up those plans are not seers. Expecting to follow a strict timeline or even using it
June 1, 2023 – Now for the hard part. Today the INC continued in “contact groups” (breakout groups, really). Dividing in two brings the prospect of doubling output. I’m not sure if output doubles, but if it does, it may be less about doubling the conversations and more about halving
May 31, 2023 – Breakthrough!? Day three technically began at midnight as the working group trying to sort out the rules of procedure toiled until 1 am. They reported back to the full plenary at a more reasonable hour this morning with an interpretative statement that they asked to be
Media Contact: Megan Manning (202) 390 – 9513 PARIS, FRANCE – May 31, 2023 – On the occasion of World No Tobacco Day, health and environmental advocates gathered at the UN Plastic Treaty Conference in Paris to call for the elimination of cigarette filters. They drew attention to the fact
May 30, 2023 – Writing after 9:00 pm Paris time, Day 2 is not over, and the most important part of today is likely still ahead of us. In fact, it is almost certainly ahead of us, since nothing has been accomplished yet today. For these final few hours, the
