Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Hearing: Tobacco Addiction and the Right to Health

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

O’Neill Institute: Karen Teber / Km463@georgetown.edu

FIC Argentina: Patricia Gutkowski/ prensa@ficargentina.org

WASHINGTON, DC (March 29, 2016) — For the first time, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights takes up tobacco use as a human rights issue during a hearing on Tuesday, April 5, 2016.

The tobacco epidemic has become one of the world’s — and the Americas’ — gravest public health concerns. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one million people in the Americas die each year from tobacco use, while hundreds of millions more are at risk of tobacco-related diseases. Tobacco companies throughout the region continue to aggressively market cigarettes and interfere in tobacco control measures. The O’Neill Institute, ASH, and FIC Argentina will present to the commission about the harms of tobacco, industry interference, and the impact of tobacco marketing on targeted and vulnerable groups. The three organizations will recommend that the commission consider tobacco control as an important measure in pursuit of the highest attainable standard of health.

WHAT:

Hearing before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights: tobacco and the right to health in the Americas

WHO:

• Oscar A. Cabrera, The O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, Georgetown University, Washington DC

• Chris Bostic, ASH > Action on Smoking and Health, Washington, DC

• Kelsey Romeo-Stuppy, ASH > Action on Smoking and Health, Washington, DC

• Verónica Schoj, Fundación Interamericana del Corazón Argentina

• Belén Rios, Fundación Interamericana del Corazón Argentina

WHEN:

Tuesday, April 5, 2016; 10:15 – 11:15 am

Interviews can be scheduled with the experts before and after the hearing.

WHERE:

GSB Building of the Organization of American States (OAS)

Padilha Vidal Room

1889 F. Street, NW

Washington, DC 20006

MEDIA:

Media pre-registration is not necessary, but members of the press will be required to register prior to entering the OAS building.

LIVE STREAMING:

This hearing is scheduled to be broadcast live via the IACHR website.

SOCIAL MEDIA:

@ONeillInstitute

@ASHorg

@FICargentina

@IACHRpress

WRITTEN TESTIMONY:

Written testimony from all participants will be posted April 5 at the following links:

O’Neill Institute/Cabrera

ASH/Bostic and Romeo-Stuppy

FIC/Schoj and Rios

ACTION ON SMOKING AND HEALTH

Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) is the nation’s oldest anti-tobacco organization dedicated to health for all. ASH was formed in 1967 in response to the U.S. Surgeon General Report in order to use legal action to fight tobacco and protect nonsmokers. Today, because tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death worldwide, ASH uses global tools to counter the global tobacco epidemic. Learn more about our programs at www.ash.org.

Follow us on Twitter @ASHOrg and Facebook www.Facebook.com/ASHglobalAction

Fundación Interamericana del Corazón Argentina (INTERAMERICAN HEART FOUNDATION- ARGENTINA)

The Inter-American Heart Foundation is a non-governmental non-profit organization dedicated to reducing heart diseases and stroke, and related non-communicable diseases, in Latin America and the Caribbean region, and to promote health through research, advocacy, public awareness and education. It has members and affiliates in almost all countries in the region.

THE O’NEILL INSTITUTE FOR NATIONAL AND GLOBAL HEALTH LAW

The O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University is the premier center for health law, scholarship, and policy. Its mission is to contribute to a more powerful and deeper understanding of the multiple ways in which law can be used to improve the public’s health, using objective evidence as a measure. The O’Neill Institute seeks to advance scholarship, science, research, and teaching that will encourage key decision-makers in the public, private, and civil society to employ the law as a positive tool for enabling more people in the United States and throughout the world to lead healthier lives. Add website and social media contacts.