China set to ban smoking in public places

In late November 2014, China began the process of introducing laws to enforce smokefree public places and ban tobacco advertising. Unsurprisingly, the state-owned  tobacco industry has already started to push back against these essential reforms: “We must note that smoking has hundreds of years of history and objectively a market demand for cigarettes still exists,” […]

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New Zealand: Dirty Politics raises conflict of interest concerns

Nathan Cowie, MPH. Cowie Research and Communications Disclosure: The author has previously undertaken paid employment for Centre for Tobacco Control Research, University of Auckland, and Action on Smoking and Health New Zealand. Investigative journalist Nicky Hager released a book in August 2014 on the seamier side of New Zealand politics. Dirty Politics: How attack politics […]

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The Netherlands: Dutch government sued over WHO FCTC violations

This post was originally published by The Youth Smoking Prevention Foundation. It is republished here with full permission. The Youth Smoking Prevention Foundation is taking the Kingdom of the Netherlands to court to end the structural and excessive influence exerted by the tobacco lobby on government anti-smoking policies. The Foundation is calling on the Dutch […]

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When will the tobacco industry apologise for its galactic harms?

Simon Chapman writes for the BMJ blog about the forthcoming advertisements from the US tobacco industry where they must admit to deceiving the public about addiction and health harms. But as snakes shed their skins only to replace them with more of the same, the global tobacco industry continues its business as usual. A friend […]

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Reports from the Asia Pacific Association for the Control of Tobacco #APACT2013 Conference

  Editor’s note: The first edition of the ASEAN Tobacco Control Atlas was launched to coincide with the conference. Click here to read additional reporting by SEATCA and download the report. Dr Marewa Glover from the University of Auckland Centre for Tobacco Control Research writes here about how e or m health ideas are an area […]

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Thai youth ask the tobacco industry to withdraw lawsuit against new pictorial health warnings

Update: On 1 August, 140 youth and students held a protest rally at the World Trade Centre in Bangkok, location of the Philip Morris International offices, to show support for 85% pictorial warnings, and to symbolise “140 deaths from tobacco use every day” in the country. View a video of the rally here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXsWjL8VplE Open letter 1 August 2013 To:  […]

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While the UK calls for more evidence, new Australian study shows cigarette plain packaging works

Plain cigarette packaging works: study By Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation and Alexia Attwood, The Conversation This article was originally published at The Conversation. Plain packaging on tobacco products is associated with lower smoking appeal, greater support for the policy and a higher urgency to quit among adult smokers, a new study has found. Since last […]

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