Media Contact Megan Manning manningm@ash.org (202) 659 – 4310 Santa Cruz County’s First-in-the-World Cigarette Filter Ban Passed SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 29, 2024 – Today, the Board of Supervisors of Santa Cruz County, California finalized its approval of a ban on the sale of filtered cigarettes and cigars. The sales
Media Contact: Megan Manning (202) 390 – 9513 UN Plastics Treaty Negotiations Move Forward with Strong Support for Banning Cigarette Filters WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 30, 2024 – The Fourth Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-4) to develop an international legally binding treaty on ending plastic pollution, adjourned April 29, 2024, in
HEALTH GROUPS FILE SECOND LAWSUIT AGAINST THE US FDA While the Biden Administration Delays the Rule on Menthol, Death Toll Rises Daily WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 2, 2024 – The African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council (AATCLC), Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), and the National Medical Association (NMA), represented
February 10, 2024 – COP10 was particularly special because several cross-cutting issues – human rights, the environment, and the tobacco endgame – were on the agenda. ASH and the Global Alliance for Tobacco Control (then the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control) led advocacy for a human rights decision at COP8
February 9, 2024 – Today is the second to last day of the 10th Conference of the Parties, and the Parties still have agenda items left to discuss, but they have also gotten through several of their important agenda items. Yesterday, the government of Ecuador proposed a Decision on the
February 8, 2024 – How the Sausage Gets Made Few of us have ever made actual sausage. But we’ll explain the process anyway, and then compare it to how things get done at FCTC COP. To make sausage, you need some casing, some meat and spices. You grind everything up, and
February 7, 2024 – Today was another packed day for the ASH delegation here in Panama. Several of ASH’s policy priorities have come up on the agenda of the COP. Unfortunately, fruitful debates on these items have been delayed because of country Parties spouting tobacco industry rhetoric. However, that has
February 6, 2024 – A typical day at the Conference of the Parties begins very early and ends very late, and today was no different. At 7:00 AM, ASH begins by meeting with our civil society allies to discuss strategy for the day. Starting at 9:00 AM, we attend meetings
February 5, 2024 – The in-person portion of the 10th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP10) of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) began today in Panama City. In a very fitting opening message, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General said, “We must continue advocating for
This has been another fast-paced year in ASH’s fight to protect society from the harm caused by the tobacco industry. A year where we have seen much progress, reached new milestones, and marked major anniversaries though, unfortunately, also a year where we faced painful setbacks as the tobacco industry does
New Zealand Plans to Gut Public Health Policies on Tobacco Sales Statement from Laurent Huber, Executive Director, Action on Smoking and Health November 29, 2023 Last week, New Zealand led the way in ending the tobacco epidemic with the most progressive and hard-hitting tobacco policies in the world. This Monday,
By: Laurent Huber, Executive Director of ASH I have now spent over two decades working on UN treaties and international processes with the aim of ending the negative health, social and economic consequences of tobacco products, and I am often asked: why? Why don’t you just concentrate at the local
Statement from Laurent Huber, Executive Director of Action on Smoking and Health, Supporting British Prime Minister’s Smoke-Free Generation Proposal October 4, 2023 Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) welcomes and applauds the announcement by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak detailing his government’s plans to introduce a bill forever banning the
CDC Reports: More Than Half of All Americans Support Ending the Sale of Tobacco Products Research Brief Released in Preventing Chronic Disease Media Contact: Megan Arendt-Manning (202) 390 – 9513 WASHINGTON, DC – February 2, 2023 – A new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Office on Smoking
The year 2022 has seen incredible milestones when it comes to taking measures to protect our collective right to health and right to a healthy environment from the harms caused by the tobacco industry. When we talk about “human rights,” we talk about the rights that have been recognized at
A Global First: New Zealand Passes Tobacco Endgame Bill Package Changing the Course of the Tobacco Epidemic for the World Media Contact: Megan Manning (202) 390-9513 WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 13, 2022 – Today, the New Zealand Parliament adopted the strongest anti-tobacco law in world history. Once implemented, the Smokefree
NEW YORK CITY, NY – DECEMBER 8, 2022 – Action on Smoking and Health awarded the Project Sunset Award for Courage in Public Health to Christopher K. Leung, the lead attorney in the landmark case forcing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin the rulemaking process to ban menthol
July 2022 – ASH staff attended the 7th ENSP European Conference on Tobacco Control (ECTC) in Greece. This was a valuable opportunity to host a workshop, present on the environment, and host a panel on the tobacco endgame, while networking with partners from across Europe. Given that Greece has the
Fighting tobacco product waste: Holding tobacco industry accountable for its environmental footprint June 2, 2022 – Tobacco control experts, including ASH’s Executive Director Laurent Huber, and environmental advocates from around the world join our roundtable discussion, hosted by the World Health Organization, the WHO FCTC Secretariat, and the UN Environment
Groundbreaking Tobacco Endgame Proposal from FDA on Reducing Nicotine in Cigarettes ASH Welcomes Biden Administration’s Announcement on Reducing Nicotine WASHINGTON, DC – June 22, 2022 – Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) applauds President Biden and FDA Commissioner Califf for beginning the process to reduce nicotine in cigarettes to non-addictive
Media Contact: Megan Arendt (202) 659 – 4310 ASH Commends FDA for Finally Starting Process to Save Black Lives Menthol in Cigarettes is a Known Deadly Combination that Must End WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 25, 2022 – After many years of delay and a directive from a federal judge, today
Media Contact: Megan Arendt (202) 659 – 4310 ASH Thanks Outgoing Board Chair and Welcomes Incoming Board Chair A decade of impact and the hope of more progress to come WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 17, 2022 – Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) extends our deepest gratitude to Dr. Alfred
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
Written by Laurent Huber, Executive Director of Action on Smoking & Health and WCTOH Advisory Board Member 25 February 2021 In addition to being a Development challenge, the tobacco epidemic is also increasingly being identified as an obstacle to achieving human rights objectives that have been recognized at the highest
Twelve months ago, most of us would not have expected to see the world brought down to its knees by a virus that swept through the year killing more than 1.6 million people and halting local economies. This pandemic has placed the topic of health front and center in the
