Advocacy Tools for the Fight for the Right to Health

When people think of tobacco, they often think of it as a public health problem, but it is a human rights problem as well.

The marketing and sale of tobacco violate the right to health and life of people all around the world.

ASH has been working to convince both the tobacco control community and the human rights community that it is time to address tobacco through a human rights based approach. The resources found in this database are designed to help advocates achieve that goal. This hub is meant as a living resource and will be frequently updated with new information.

Not sure where or how to dive into this new database? Watch our Hub How-To video here.

Recent Events

• 2019 Bucharest Declaration on Human Rights and a Tobacco-Free Europe, coming out of discussion at our Global Forum that continued at the European Network for Smoking and Tobacco Prevention’s Conference the following days.
• 2019 Global Forum on Human Rights and a Tobacco-Free World, co-hosted by the Romanian Presidency, Romania 2035 Tobacco-Free Generation Initiative, and the European Network for Smoking and Tobacco Prevention with high level speakers such as the European Commissioner on Health and Food Safety and Princess Dina Mired of Jordan.
• 2018 Cape Town Declaration on Human Rights and a Tobacco-Free World, adopted by the World Conference on Tobacco or Health (WCTOH) and over 100 organizations worldwide, which states, “the manufacture, marketing, and sale of tobacco are incompatible with the human right to health.” See conference photos here.
• A successful campaign to end the Danish Institute of Human Rights’ partnership with Philip Morris International which resulted in DIHR denouncing tobacco as antithetical to the work of a human rights organization. This campaign also resulted in a sign on letter from 123 organizations in 40+ countries calling on Philip Morris International to immediately cease all marketing and production of cigarettes to adhere to human rights norms.
• A presentation before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, along with two of our partner organizations. This was the first time the Commission considered tobacco as a human rights issue and was an important victory. Read our press release from the hearing.
• An article in the American Bar Association’s International Law News entitled Tobacco Industry Marketing: A Violation of Human Rights in Latin America. The article was chosen by another ABA Publication, GP Solo Magazine, to be included in a “Best of the ABA” feature issue.

If you have a resource you’d like to see added to this Human Rights Hub or a question on how to utilize these resources, please email Kelsey Romeo-Stuppy at romeo-stuppyk@ash.org.

Are you finding the information on this Tobacco and Human Rights Hub useful? We work hard to provide these resources free of charge, but we do need to cover administrative costs. Please consider making a donation today so we can continue to provide you with this resource hub.