Although sponsorship activities by tobacco companies are banned in Ukraine, Philip Morris International (PM) found a way to donate funds to the government during the COVID-19 pandemic. In February, PMI Ukraine donated 10 million UAH (372,577 USD) to the Charity Fund Health for All to help fight the pandemic according to a report by American […]
Executive Summary Tobacco use carries risk of COVID-19 transmission and leads to worse health outcomes for COVID-19 patients. COVID-19 also endangers those with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) for which smoking is a major risk factor. Life-saving tobacco control measures that urge smokers to quit would not only address the tobacco epidemic, but also reduce the burden […]
The tobacco industry causes a net loss to the global economy, annually costing USD 1.4 trillion in economic losses[1] and killing 8 million people; with a disproportionate impact in developing nations as over 80% of the 1 billion smokers live in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).[2] Investment analysts estimate that the industry creates at least […]
April 30, 2020 Secretary General António Guterres UNITED NATIONS New York, NY 10027 Dear Secretary General Guterres: The tobacco control community stands with you in your commitment to overcome the challenges of COVID-19 towards “a more sustainable, inclusive and equitable economy, guided by our shared promise —the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.” We applaud your […]
I. Background On February 14, 2020, the head of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme posited that smoking is a risk factor for the severity of any lower respiratory tract infection, and that the same would be expected in COVID-19, a respiratory disease.[1] To identify smokers as a potential vulnerable group for COVID-19, health experts […]
41 COUNTRIES1 BAN SELLING OF E-CIGARETTESThe sale/distribution of e-cigarettes2 is banned in the following forty-one (41) countries:Antigua and Barbuda*, Argentina, Australia, Bahrain**, Barbados**, Bhutan, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Colombia, Costa Rica**, Ethiopia*, Gambia, India, Iran, Japan, N. Korea, Kuwait**, Lao PDR, Lebanon, Mauritius**, Mexico, Nepal, Nicaragua, Oman, Palestine, Panama, Qatar, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Syria, […]
Read more: Global Center for Good Governance in Tobacco Control
To: Director General of the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the Government Members of the 337th Session of the ILO’s Governing Body Reject Tobacco Funding. Regulate the Tobacco Industry. As members of the development community, we call on you to reject tobacco industry funding, and instead, espouse strict regulation of the tobacco industry. […]
Tobacco companies “have marketed and sold their lethal product with zeal, with deception, with a single-minded focus on their financial success, and without regard for the human tragedy or social costs that success exacted” – Judge Gladys Kessler, United States District Court, 2006 Read more: WHO Regional Office for Eastern Mediterranean and WHO FCTC Secretariat’s […]
To dominate the market for e-cigarettes and novel tobacco products, the tobacco industry is re-using tactics that successfully targeted youth and misinformed the public about product safety in the past. While the industry aggressively promotes its new products under the guise of offering solutions, some of the hard-fought, life-saving tobacco control measures currently in place […]
