World health organization

20 Years of the FCTC | Ross Hammond’s Reflection

February 24, 2025

20 Years of FCTC | Vera Luiza da Costa e Silva’s Reflection

February 20, 2025

20 Years of FCTC | Dr. Judith Mackay’s Reflection

February 20, 2025

Author: Prof. Dr. Judith Mackay, Director, Asian Consultancy on Tobacco Control, Hong Kong The birth of the FCTC I clearly remember the 26 October 1993 when Professor Ruth Roemer from the University of California Los Angeles invited me to breakfast during the APHA conference in San Francisco, and discussed the

20 Years of FCTC | Tom Glynn’s Reflection

February 20, 2025

20 Years of FCTC | Soon-Young Yoon’s Reflection

February 20, 2025

Author: Soon-Young Yoon, representative for the International Alliance of Women to the UN What do I think was the most exciting outcome from the WHO FCTC negotiations? My answer is simple. It is a strong support for women’s human rights to health. As the Preamble affirmed….”the Convention on the Elimination

20 Years of FCTC | Dr. Ulysses Dorotheo’s Reflection

February 20, 2025

Author: Ulysses Dorotheo, MD, FPAO, Executive Director of Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance 20 years: Learning from the past to achieve a tobacco-free future The WHO FCTC has been a global health game changer since its entry into force in 2005. Smoking prevalence has declined globally in these past 20 years,

20 Years of FCTC | Luk Joossens’ Reflection

February 20, 2025

20 Years of FCTC | Elif Dagli’s Reflection

February 20, 2025

20 Years of FCTC | Mary Assunta’s Reflection

February 20, 2025

Author: Mary Assunta, Senior Policy Advisor, Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance; Head of Global Research and Advocacy, GGTC The adoption of the WHO FCTC in 2005 is the most significant action that changed global tobacco control forever. It stopped the tobacco industry in its tracks from applying its “divide

20 Years of FCTC | Dr. Eduardo Bianco’s Reflection

February 20, 2025

Author: Dr. Eduardo Bianco, Director, Addiction Training Program for Health Professionals 20 Years of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control: A Public Health Milestone Twenty years ago, the adoption of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC) marked a turning point in global health. As the first global

20 Years of FCTC | Chris Bostic’s Reflection

February 20, 2025

Author: Chris Bostic, Policy Director, Action on Smoking and Health The FCTC changed the world and my life. I had a strange start to my career in tobacco policy. My very first exposure to that cause and community was not as a local volunteer or through a college internship. It

20 Years of FCTC | Dr. Alfred Munzer’s Reflection

February 20, 2025

Author: Dr. Alfred Munzer, Director of Pulmonary Medicine Washington Adventist Hospital, Washington, DC; Former President, American Lung Association and Board Member, Action on Smoking and Health I had a long and successful career as a pulmonologist treating many hundreds of patients with lung disease, but lending my voice to the

20 Years of FCTC | Laurent Huber’s Reflection

February 20, 2025

Author: Laurent Huber, Executive Director, Action on Smoking and Health; former Director, Framework Convention Alliance It has been 25 years since the WHO FCTC negotiations began and 20 years since its entry into force. In May 1999, the World Health Assembly adopted Resolution WHA 52.18, giving the green light for

Leaving the World Health Organization is Bad for Public Health

January 21, 2025

Leaving the World Health Organization is Bad for Public Health Media Contact: Megan Manning manningm@ash.org (202) 659-4310 WASHINGTON, DC – January 21, 2025 – Less than a day into his second term, President Trump began the process to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization (WHO). During his first

INC-3 Day 6/7: UN Plastics Pollution Treaty Negotiations

November 20, 2023

November 20, 2023 – INC-3 adjourned on Sunday, November 19th with a decision for the Secretariat to provide a revised zero draft text. The text will be available by December 31, 2023 and will serve as the subsequent document to be negotiated at INC-4, which will be held from April 21-30,

ASH’s Ongoing Work at CERD

September 6, 2022

September 2022 – This year, many people and organizations have focused their energy on social justice, and ASH is no exception. As you may know, this summer, ASH led 120 organizations in submitting a report to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). The United States was up

The Right to Health and Cessation

August 13, 2021

The marketing and sale of tobacco products violate the right to health and life of all people globally The Right to Health The right to health was first internationally articulated in the 1946 World Health Organization (WHO) Constitution. The WHO preamble declares that “the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard

Opposing Goals: The Tobacco Industry vs. Public Health

August 3, 2021

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

ASH Statement: U.S. Rejoins the World Health Organization

January 21, 2021

Statement of Laurent Huber, Executive Director of Action on Smoking and Health Washington, DC – January 21, 2021 – Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) applauds President Biden for rejoining the World Health Organization (WHO), within hours of taking the oath of office. Membership in the WHO is important at any

ASH Statement: Leaving and Halting Funding to the World Health Organization Harms More Than the COVID-19 Response

April 16, 2020

Statement from Action on Smoking & Health Leaving and Halting Funding to the World Health Organization Harms More Than the COVID-19 Response* Contact: Megan Arendt arendtm@ash.org (202) 659-4310 WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 7, 2020 – On April 14, 2020, President Trump ordered his administration to halt funding to the World

The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

February 5, 2019

The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) is the world’s first public health treaty. It was negotiated as the world’s response to the global tobacco epidemic. The FCTC was completed in 2003, and has now been joined by 180 countries and the European Community. Learn More About the FCTC

Global Best Practices

May 21, 2017

The World Health Organization estimates that tobacco consumption kills approximately 7 million people per year,[1] and according to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), tobacco costs the world up to two percent of its yearly GDP.[2],[3] In the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control, tobacco causes over 480,000 deaths and

Monograph: The Economics of Tobacco & Tobacco Contol

January 13, 2017

This collaborative analysis from the National Cancer Institute and the World Health Organization is the result of several years’ work from noted experts in economics, public health and law. It is the most detailed look yet at the economic harm caused by tobacco use. ASH Deputy Director Chris Bostic was

Does Tobacco Violate Human Rights?

April 5, 2016

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Megan Arendt Office: 202-659-4310 Email: arendtm@ash.org Does Tobacco Violate Human Rights? Inter-American Commission Ponders Question WASHINGTON, D.C. – April 6, 2016 – The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) heard testimony from experts yesterday on why tobacco should be considered a human rights issue. The thematic

Released: WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic, 2015

July 7, 2015

The WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic, 2015 has been released. It is available here>