Quebec, Canada. Three tobacco companies have been ordered to pay $15 billion in damages after losing a historic court case. In making his judgement, THE HONORABLE BRIAN RIORDAN, J.S.C, wrote: “these companies colluded among themselves in order to impede the public from learning of health related information about smoking, a collusion that continued for many decades […]
World No Tobacco Day 2015
Eliminating the illicit trade in tobacco would generate an annual tax windfall of US$ 31 billion for governments, improve public health, help cut crime and curb an important revenue source for the tobacco industry. On the World No Tobacco Day on 31 May, WHO calls Member States to sign the “Protocol to Eliminate the Illicit […]
This artistic ad from Thailand will make you think…and gasp
The opening of this video is intriguing – thick black ink dropping into water, then a paintbrush slowly making a bold black stroke across canvas. The paintbrush has been dipped in what looks like a high quality art paint jar…but it is no ordinary ink. As the ad states, it is the life’s work of a man who spent 50 […]
Urgent action to amend Austria’s tobacco control laws
Prof. Manfred Neuberger writes: Since 2007 Austria has received the poorest score on the Tobacco Control Scale. While smoking prevalence and tobacco consumption decreased on average in the European Union, an opposite trend has occurred in Austria. Child smoking has increased dramatically since the 1990s. Cigarettes are available around the clock in thousands of vending […]
Reuters reports U.S. to roll back ‘lost pleasure’ approach on health rules
(Reuters) – The U.S. government is preparing to roll back a widely criticized approach to public health, in which the “lost pleasure” people might suffer if they quit smoking or chose to eat healthier foods was used to reduce the projected benefits of new regulations, government officials told Reuters. Kenneth Warner, a University of Michigan […]
The 16th World Conference on Tobacco or Health: Not exactly “World”
Wasim Maziak Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work, Florida International University, Miami, Florida Two years ago, I was invited to serve on the scientific committee for the 16th World Conference for Tobacco or Health (WCTOH). I was particularly happy to serve, since this was the first time such an important event was […]
World Conference on Tobacco or Health: keeping the focus on the tobacco industry
Anna Nicholson, Menzies School of Health Research Follow Anna on Twitter @annaknicholson The 16th World Conference on Tobacco or Health (WCTOH) was held in Abu Dhabi from March 17-21 2015, the first time it has been held in the Middle East. While this did not come without challenges (approximately 60 delegates, the majority from […]
Bloomberg Philanthropies Honors Tobacco Control Organizations
by Stan Shatenstein Bloomberg Philanthropies hosted the third Bloomberg Philanthropies Awards for Global Tobacco Control as part of the 16th World Conference on Tobacco or Health in Abu Dhabi last week. The Awards were created to recognise governments and non-governmental organizations demonstrating excellent progress or achievement in the implementation of MPOWER measures in low-and middle-income […]
Blockbuster Special Issue: Evaluation of the Australian tobacco plain packaging policy
The latest supplement from Tobacco Control is a must read. All papers mentioned below are available open access. Features audio and news grabs are also available from the Cancer Council Victoria. Key findings of the evaluation include: • Plain packaging has delivered on its aim to reduce appeal of packs, particularly with adolescents and young […]
16th World Conference on Tobacco or Health: regional delegates refused visas
Simon Chapman, University of Sydney (Editor update: at the time of this post being published, we were able to confirm 38 delegates had been refused visas. The organisers subsequently issued a statement with an estimate that approximately 60 delegates were refused visas. To read the statement click here.) Every three years, the world tobacco control community convenes for a […]