Tobacco and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) The inclusion of tobacco control in the Sustainable Development Goals has been in the works for several years. It is due to various advocacy efforts of the Framework Convention Alliance and the support of NGO partners and allied missions in New York and
Two of the largest foreign-owned tobacco companies have asked the Ontario’s top court to discharge a $50-billion lawsuit instigated against them by the provincial government. According to the lawyers of British American Tobacco and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, they are going to put up a case that their respective companies
Nearly two-thirds of women of reproductive age in China are exposed to second-hand tobacco smoke at home and over half are exposed in the workplace, which raises the risk of complications in pregnancy, including stillbirths and infant death. The findings, released by the World Health Organisation on Tuesday, are from
Smoking, which is described as the biggestpublic health disaster in the history of the world with its perpetrators likened to terrorists, will kill up to a billion people worldwide this century unless governments across the world stamp down on the half-trillion-dollar tobaccoindustry, cancer experts have warned. John Seffrin, chief executive
The brother of Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang, who oversees public health, should be removed from his post as a top official in China’s state-owned tobacco monopoly to avoid conflicts of interest, a report published by the Washington-based Brookings Institution said. Li, set to succeed Wen Jiabao as premier early
TOOWOOMBA’S smokers have been left gagging as new not-so-plain cigarette packets start to filter into stores. A packet of Winfield Blues is no longer the colour its name would suggest – instead a sickly looking olive green sets the ailing backdrop for photos of health-plagued smokers in various states of
BRUSSELS–The European Commission still intends to move ahead with a draft revision of the tobacco directive in the coming weeks, spokesman Olivier Bailly said Thursday, as he insisted no-one within the European Union’s executive is seeking to block new the rules on tobacco companies. The tobacco directive is at the
A billion people will be killed by tobacco this century. It has been estimated that the tobacco industry makes approximately $6,000 for every death. This must stop! The tobacco treaty is among one of the best tools the world has today to prevent this senseless massacre that hurts the citizens
Marketing cigarettes ain’t what it used to be. Gone are the days of Joe Camel billboards and T-shirts or caps branded with cigarette makers’ logos. But Big Tobacco hasn’t given up on getting its message out. A 1999 settlement banned tobacco companies from advertising outdoors or at stadiums but there’s
Nobody lights up like Eastern Europe, where average annual consumption can exceed 2,000 cigarettes per person. The very highest rate is in Serbia (2,861 cigarettes per person per year), according to data from 71 countries compiled by the World Lung Foundation and American Cancer Society. Fourth-place Russia, not far behind
The John Dalli affair has had one significant casualty for the European consumer; the Tobacco Products Directive. Dalli came to New Europe’s Brussels HQ on the morning of October 19 for a followup interview by Alexandros Koronakis, challenging the findings of the OLAF investigation, and the discussing the serious impact
MOSCOW — Russia’s government has OKed a bill that would ban smoking in public and tobacco ads. The government on Thursday approved a landmark deal that would crack down on smoking in a country where 44 million people, or 40 percent of adults, light up. The approval of the bill,
Philip Morris, the major tobacco producer, has decided not to pursue its legal challenge of a Norwegian law that forbids retailers from displaying tobacco products. The company’s Norwegian unit, Philip Morris Norge, had claimed the law hindered trade of legal products and failed to document the health benefits justifying such
The French government has raised the tax by 6.5%, the first bump in the country since 2004. PARIS – French smokers are now paying more for their cigarettes and other tobacco products, including roll-your-own, as the country’s first tax hike in eight years went into effect Oct. 1, Radio France
Voters in Switzerland have rejected a total ban on smoking in enclosed public places at a referendum. Although Geneva voted slightly in favour, results from the country’s other 25 cantons showed a majority of voters rejected a full ban. Hotels, restaurants and bars are allowed rooms for smokers but critics
FC Barcelona have reached an agreement with the European Commission to launch a campaign aimed at helping Europe’s 28 million smokers to give up tobacco “With this joint action, we aim to help football fans all over Europe to retake control over their health and their lives, encouraging them to
A new study has discredited the tobacco industry’s assertion that there is no proof plain packaging on cigarette packs reduces the appeal of smoking. Scientists from Canada, the United States and Brazil conducted a study of 640 young Brazilian women to determine if cigarettes had the same appeal when presented
ISDS stands for Investor State Dispute Settlement. I know, spelling it out doesn’t help comprehension much. It is a term of art for trade law policy wonks. Unlike most unnecessarily long bits of lingo, this one is dangerous, especially for tobacco control. The United States is insisting that it be
IT’S easy to laugh at Big Tobacco. Fresh from defeat in Australia’s High Court, it has taken its fight against plain cigarette packets to New Zealand where British American Tobacco warns such legislation could expose the nation to legal challenges (no kidding), and to Hong Kong where Philip Morris moved
New Zealand’s tobacco industry is already heavily regulated and the Government’s plain packaging proposals for cigarette packets is a step too far, the country’s biggest cigarette manufacturer has said. In a rare media interview, Steve Rush, general manager of British American Tobacco New Zealand, agreed smoking was harmful and that
BIG tobacco has opened a new front in its war against Australia’s plain packaging law. The World Trade Organisation has revealed that within hours of the government’s victory in the High Court, Ukraine upgraded to formal a complaint against Australia’s law and demanded the establishment of a disputes panel. Australia
The global tobacco epidemic is far from being over. A recent study published in the Lancet suggests that the number of tobacco users remains very high in many parts of the world, particularly low and middle income countries. Over 60% of Russian men and over 28% of Bangladeshi women use
A new study led by a University at Buffalo researcher shows that Big Tobacco has a strong grip globally, making for a huge challenge when it comes to curbing tobacco use around the world. In what is being described as the world’s largest tobacco-use study, the survey of people from
THE taxpayer-owned Future Fund is profiting handsomely from tobacco investments, despite Canberra’s plain packaging laws. As the High Court’s landmark ruling in favour of plain packaging triggered a slide in global tobacco stocks, latest figures show the fund’s tobacco shares, valued at $210 million, have delivered far higher returns than
Statement by WHO Director-General, Dr Margaret Chan 15 August 2012 The World Health Organization (WHO) strongly welcomes the landmark decision from Australia’s High Court to dismiss a legal challenge from the tobacco industry, and calls on the rest of the world to follow Australia’s tough stance on tobacco marketing. Several
