Listen to this BMJ talk medicine TC podcast discussion with Silvy Peeters, University of Bath, about her paper: The Revision of the 2014 European Tobacco Products Directive: An Analysis of the Tobacco Industry’s Attempts to ‘break the health silo’ The full paper is also freely available to all as an open access publication. https://soundcloud.com/bmjpodcasts/the-2014-european-tobacco-products-directive-and-the-industrys-attempts-to-break-the-health-silo?in=bmjpodcasts/sets/tc-podcast […]
Category: Legislation and Policy
Should stores selling tobacco be allowed to provide publicly funded health services?
Dr Andrew Furber Follow Dr Furber on Twitter at @FurberA Imagine a patient with a health problem accessing a publicly-funded health service where the substance causing the problem was on sale within the same premises. You would probably think this was completely unethical. But this is exactly what happens in hundreds of supermarkets in […]
India: Government consultation to strengthen National Tobacco Control Law
Amit Yadav & Monika Arora, Public Health Foundation of India Two months after announcing larger and stronger pictorial health warnings on all tobacco products, and 10 years after ratifying the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Government of India is proposing to amend and strengthen […]
Indonesia: tobacco pack warnings need stronger enforcement
Widyastuti Soerojo, Southeast Asia Initiative on Tobacco Tax As reported in the September 2014 edition of News Analysis, pictorial health warnings (PHW) on cigarette packs in Indonesia were due to be implemented in June 2014. The Indonesian government approved the warnings, after a lengthy process, under Article 114 of the Health Law No 36/2009, […]
Tobacco industry confronted with child labour
By Laura Graen, www.forchangemakers.com In late 2014, the tobacco industry was confronted with the revelation of child labour on US tobacco farms, detailed in a well-researched 139 page report published by Human Rights Watch (HRW). The USA is not alone; most major tobacco producing countries use child labour in tobacco growing. In other words, […]
USA: Massachusetts town considers tobacco sales ban
The small town of Westminster, Massachusetts (population 7300) is considering banning the sale of all products containing nicotine within its city limits. PBS reports the town’s health board has put forward a proposal, with the three member board to make a decision in late December. If the proposal is adopted, products purchased elsewhere would still be allowed to […]
Tasmania: Legislation drafted to implement a Tobacco Free Generation
Kathryn Barnsley Breathe Well, Centre of Research Excellence for Chronic Respiratory Disease and Lung Ageing, University of Tasmania In 2012 we reported that Tasmania was leading the way towards an endgame for smoking, by developing mechanisms for implementing the Tobacco Free Generation proposal (TFG). Those who are familiar with the Tobacco Free Generation proposal by […]
Indonesia: court upholds tobacco tax to fund health
Abdillah Ahsan Faculty of Economics, University of Indonesia Good news on tobacco control from Indonesia is rare. Recently, however there was a victory in the area of tobacco tax. On 1 January 2014, Law No. 28 of 2009 on regional taxes was introduced, which allows local provinces in Indonesia to charge a local tax to […]
Canada: What were they smoking? Experts want health on tobacco litigation agenda
Garfield Mahood President, Campaign for Justice on Tobacco Fraud In the early 1980’s, Canada had one of the globe’s highest rates of per capita tobacco consumption. But in less than two decades, in response to aggressive campaigning by health NGOs, Canada experienced arguably the largest decline in use anywhere. Gains were made on many […]
Germany: Pre-schools and Cigarette Vending Machines
by Raoul A. Walsh, Phd Depending on the type of national regulation, cigarette vending machines pose serious problems for tobacco control including: increasing cigarette availability, facilitating smoking relapse, providing cigarette access points for children and other non-smokers, normalizing cigarette purchases , and serving as a promotional tool for the tobacco industry. There is a wide […]