This Saturday, May 31, is World No Tobacco Day. Each year, the World Health Organization sets a theme that highlights a crucial element of the fight to end the tobacco epidemic. This year, ASH joins the WHO in “Unmasking the Appeal.” Where do we even start? There is just so
Media Contact: Megan Manning manningm@ash.org (202) 659-4310 The Maldives Passes National Phase Out of Tobacco Products WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 23, 2025 – On May 21, Maldives President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu made history by strengthening protections for his 525,994 citizens from the aggressive and deadly tobacco industry. President Muizzu ratified
Media Contact: Megan Manning manningm@ash.org (202) 659-4310 Santa Cruz County’s Cigarette Filter Ban Lights a Global Fire SACRAMENTO, CA – MAY 20, 2025 – In honor of World No Tobacco Day (May 31), Action on Smoking and Health amplifies the global leadership of Santa Cruz County, California which became the
The tobacco industry is relentlessly targeting children in Indonesia, using widespread advertising, promotion, and sponsorship of tobacco products through all types of media. Involvement of children in tobacco farming also places children in serious health and safety risk. But the truth is far darker: tobacco kills millions, and these tactics
The plastic in cigarette butts is the catalyst for getting rid of all cigarette filters. Dutch NGO Fair Resource Foundation launched a global campaign on May 13, 2025 to ban plastic cigarette filters. ASH is one of the many organizations that signed on in support and collaborated with the Fair
As we move towards a tobacco and nicotine free society it is critical that we assist those who work in the tobacco industry find alternative livelihoods. Article 17 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) emphasizes the importance of promoting economically viable alternatives to tobacco production, but unfortunately
DC Non-Profit Files Lawsuit Against E-Cigarette Company QR Joy WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 29, 2025 – Today, Breathe DC filed a lawsuit against QR Joy, Inc. and QR Joy Fume, LLC in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. The Complaint is on behalf of the general public of the
Recently, momentum has been growing around the human rights field understanding the extreme harm caused by tobacco companies. This is made particularly evident by an important win in a technical policy paper – a win that is directly related to advocacy efforts from ASH and our partners in the tobacco
April 22 is Earth Day, the day we recognize that Earth is our only home. Like a house, if we don’t take care of it, clean up messes and fix things when they’re broken, it will become uninhabitable. Unlike a house, we can’t simply collect the insurance and go get
Guest Author: Amos Hausner, Attorney at Law, representing the 7 applicants in application 1416/21 who seek this administrative redress, among them the Clean Air Association and 6 individuals who suffer the harsh consequences of Environmental Tobacco Smoke at home. In a shareholders’ meeting of a major US tobacco company, the
International Day of Zero Waste reminds us that while we should be aware of what we consume, we should be particularly cognizant of what we waste, how we can minimize it, and how to properly dispose of it. The Earth is almost entirely a closed-system, meaning that what we “throw
Recently, with the 20th anniversary of the WHO tobacco treaty (the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, FCTC), the tobacco control community has highlighted the FCTC’s contribution to other subject areas; many of which are taking the lessons learned and best practices and applying them to their fields. However, for International
Author: Prof. Dr. Judith Mackay, Director, Asian Consultancy on Tobacco Control, Hong Kong The birth of the FCTC I clearly remember the 26 October 1993 when Professor Ruth Roemer from the University of California Los Angeles invited me to breakfast during the APHA conference in San Francisco, and discussed the
Author: Soon-Young Yoon, representative for the International Alliance of Women to the UN What do I think was the most exciting outcome from the WHO FCTC negotiations? My answer is simple. It is a strong support for women’s human rights to health. As the Preamble affirmed….”the Convention on the Elimination
Author: Ulysses Dorotheo, MD, FPAO, Executive Director of Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance 20 years: Learning from the past to achieve a tobacco-free future The WHO FCTC has been a global health game changer since its entry into force in 2005. Smoking prevalence has declined globally in these past 20 years,
Author: Mary Assunta, Senior Policy Advisor, Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance; Head of Global Research and Advocacy, GGTC The adoption of the WHO FCTC in 2005 is the most significant action that changed global tobacco control forever. It stopped the tobacco industry in its tracks from applying its “divide
Author: Dr. Eduardo Bianco, Director, Addiction Training Program for Health Professionals 20 Years of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control: A Public Health Milestone Twenty years ago, the adoption of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC) marked a turning point in global health. As the first global
Author: Chris Bostic, Policy Director, Action on Smoking and Health The FCTC changed the world and my life. I had a strange start to my career in tobacco policy. My very first exposure to that cause and community was not as a local volunteer or through a college internship. It
Author: Dr. Alfred Munzer, Director of Pulmonary Medicine Washington Adventist Hospital, Washington, DC; Former President, American Lung Association and Board Member, Action on Smoking and Health I had a long and successful career as a pulmonologist treating many hundreds of patients with lung disease, but lending my voice to the
Author: Laurent Huber, Executive Director, Action on Smoking and Health; former Director, Framework Convention Alliance It has been 25 years since the WHO FCTC negotiations began and 20 years since its entry into force. In May 1999, the World Health Assembly adopted Resolution WHA 52.18, giving the green light for
