May 20, 2020 The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Tuesday urged the authorities concerned to suspend production, supply, marketing, and sale of all kinds of tobacco products in Bangladesh to help fight against coronavirus. Read more: The Independent
May 3, 2020 Scotland’s leading anti-smoking charity is backing calls for a minimum unit price (MUP) on tobacco after scientists said “now is the time” to tackle the largest preventable cause of chronic disease. Read more: The Sunday Times
In the Coronavirus pandemic, the tobacco industry presents itself as the saviour in the crisis. A transparent diversionary tactic, since it has been fighting the public good for decades and ruining the health of countless people. Read more: Unfairtobacco
April 29, 2020 The National Commission on Tobacco Control (NCTC) has urged President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to enhance COVID-19 mitigation efforts by banning tobacco cigarettes and electronic cigarettes, especially in “high-risk areas”. Read more: The Jakarta Post
April 27, 2020 Philip Morris International committed more than US $ 24 million to support actions against the pandemic, financing NGOs. A British American Tobacco subsidiary, meanwhile, is in the clinical testing stage of a possible vaccine. Read more: LATERCERA
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 […]