“Health is a fundamental human right indispensable for the exercise of other human rights. Every human being is entitled to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health conducive to living a life in dignity.” – the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights When we talk about human
As Susan Sontag once wrote, “Everyone who is born holds dual citizenship, in the kingdom of the well and in the kingdom of the sick. Although we all prefer to use only the good passport, sooner or later each of us is obliged, at least for a spell, to identify
Guest Author: Dr. Carolyn Dresler After recently retiring from income-producing work, I found myself revising my will. I still volunteer my time for causes of importance to me, like ASH. So, while I was working on my will, I was similarly thinking about those causes that are important to me
ASH’s work is based on the principle that the behavior of the tobacco industry – producing, marketing, and selling addictive products that kill when use as intended – violates human rights, such as the right to health, that have been recognized at the highest level through international, regional, and national legal
Every December 10th is Human Rights Day, and this year (2021) the theme is “Equality- Reducing inequalities, advancing human rights.” For ASH, this theme is very welcome, as we strive to center our tobacco control work around these principles. This year in particular, ASH has been focused on the intersection
Guest Author: John Mirisch UC San Francisco Professor and distinguished anti-tobacco advocate Ruth Malone once pointed out that in the history of consumer products, there has never been anything deadlier than cigarettes. She went on to note that somebody would finally say that tobacco is too dangerous to be sold
The Medical Journal of Australia RESEARCH LETTER VOLUME 215, ISSUE 10 Public support for phasing out the sale of cigarettes in Australia Emily Brennan, Sarah Durkin, Michelle M Scollo, Maurice Swanson and Melanie Wakefield Med J Aust 2021; 215 (10): 471-472. || doi: 10.5694/mja2.51224 Published online: 30 August 2021 Read more here>
Media Contact: Megan Arendt arendtm@ash.org (202) 390 – 9513 U.S. Ranks Among the 15 Worst Performing Countries for Tobacco Industry Interference ASH’s 2021 Index Compares U.S. Regulations vs. Global Best Practices for Public Health WASHINGTON, DC – November 4, 2021 – Released today, the 2021 U.S. Tobacco Industry Interference Index
Media Contact: Megan Arendt arendtm@ash.org (202) 390 – 9513 The Scope and Reach of Tobacco Industry Lobbying New Resource from ASH Identifies U.S. Tobacco Lobbyists and Lobbying Firms To Clarify Who Should Not be Trusted on Public Health Issues WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 28, 2021 – Tobacco companies spend millions
Watch this collaborative discussion between Dr. Nasser Hanna, a professor of medicine at Indiana University Health, and Dr. Carolyn Dresler, a retired thoracic surgical oncologist and ASH Volunteer, highlighting their robust knowledge of and insights on the importance of smoking cessation to reduce the incidence of lung cancer. Click here
[Traducción al Español disponible aquí] 150 Organizations Worldwide Demand that the Island of La Graciosa Break Its Agreement with Philip Morris In a letter to the President of the Spanish Government, the tobacco control community denounces Spain’s violation of international laws which prevent the interference of tobacco companies in public
[English translation available here] 150 organizaciones a nivel mundial demandan que la isla de La Graciosa rompa su acuerdo con Philip Morris Los profesionales de la salud denuncian en una carta al Presidente del Gobierno la violación de leyes internacionales que impiden la interferencia de las tabaqueras en asuntos públicos
Author: Gabrielle Ballweg, ASH Human Rights Policy and Communications Intern Arguably the most compelling justification for permitting cigarette sales in the U.S. is profit. However, when a U.S. industry inflicts 226.7 billion dollars in U.S. healthcare costs annually – in addition to causing 20% of all U.S. deaths – this
Author: Vivienne Brandt, ASH Policy and Communications Intern In 2003, the World Health Organization concluded negotiations of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which reaffirmed the right of all people to the highest attainable standard of health. This international treaty lays out the best practices to end the tobacco
The year 2020 brought much needed attention to social justice, and placed the right to health front and center in global public health. In a matter of months, we saw the world come to a halt because of the global COVID-19 pandemic, a pandemic that has made it even clearer
Author: Mitch Schuster, ASH Policy and Communications Intern The tobacco industry is frequently criticized for its product’s harmful effects on global health, financial security, and manipulative marketing tactics. However, one of the tobacco industry’s least recognized impacts on global populations has been the exploitation of child laborers working on tobacco
Statement from Action on Smoking and Health Thanking the District of Columbia’s Mayor for Signing the Tobacco Product Flavor Ban Bill into Law WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 22, 2021 – Action on Smoking & Health (ASH) congratulates Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser for swiftly signing into law a ban
Statement from Laurent Huber, Executive Director, Action on Smoking and Health Brookline, MA Becomes 1st City in the U.S. to Ban Tobacco Sales to Anyone Born in the 21st Century WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 19, 2021 – This morning Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey approved Brookline’s first-in-the-nation Tobacco Free Generation
Statement from Elizabeth Furgurson, Chief Operating Officer of ASH in Support of the District of Columbia’s Bill to Ban Flavors in Tobacco Products June 29, 2021 Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) applauds the DC City Council for acting today to reduce the death toll of flavored tobacco products. We
“It’s easy to assume smokers know the risk, but it’s not that simple. According to investigators, minority communities, as well as children, were specifically targeted.” Watch the video and read more on ABC 7’s website here>
Additional organizations continue to sign onto this letter. For the most recent number of signatory organizations, click here. Media Contact: Megan Arendt arendtm@ash.org (202) 390 – 9513 148 Organizations, Universities, and Cancer Centers Call for an End to Combustible Tobacco Sales WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 24, 2021 – Our vision
[en Français | en Español] 154 Organizations Call for Phasing Out Sales of Combustible Tobacco Products The lessons learned in 2020 from the bold actions taken to address the COVID-19 pandemic provide an opportunity to consider equally bold actions that will be required to tackle other global health pandemics. The undersigned organizations
Access to Smoking Cessation Support is a Human Right ASH and ICTC Release a Report in Advance of World No Tobacco Day, May 31st Contact: Megan Arendt arendtm@ash.org | (202) 390 – 9513 WASHINGTON, DC – May 18, 2021 – Legally-binding human rights norms implore or require governments to protect
Professor Joshua Pearce, the Richard Witte Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and a Professor cross-appointed in the Department of Materials Science & Engineering and in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering at the Michigan Technological University, wrote the following article in December 2018 and it was Published February
There is vast global support for the U.S. to ban menthol cigarettes, as several countries have already done. The University of Bath’s Tobacco Tactics website lists all the other countries that have banned menthol and when. Statements Issued in Support of the FDA’s April 29, 2021 Announcement Congressional Black Caucus:
