Tobacco use remains a pressing public health issue worldwide, especially with shisha and other products gaining popularity among young people. Kazakhstan took a firm step by banning the sale, import, and production of e-cigarettes and all tobacco products, while maintaining restrictions on shisha smoking in public places. In an exclusive interview with Kazinform News Agency, WHO Representative Dr. Skender Syla spoke about the country’s progress in tobacco control and warned of the serious health risks posed by waterpipe smoking.
LONDON, May 24 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's plan to ban smoking for younger generations will not become law after he called a snap election leaving no time to push through one of his flagship policies.
"The smoking ban, of course, disappointed not to be able to get that through at the end of the session given the time available," Sunak told reporters on Friday.
Sunak had wanted to bring in some of the world's strictest anti-smoking rules by banning anyone aged 15 and under from ever buying cigarettes, but the bill to make that happen was left off the parliamentary agenda, leading to speculation it would be shelved.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and STOP, a global tobacco industry watchdog, are launching today “Hooking the next generation,” a report highlighting how the tobacco and nicotine industry designs products, implements marketing campaigns and works to shape policy environments to help them addict the world’s youth.
This comes just ahead of World No Tobacco Day marked on 31 May, where WHO is amplifying the voices of young people who are calling on governments to protect them from being targets of the tobacco and nicotine industry.
University of Jordan News (AJA) Heba Al-Kayed - Under the patronage of Her Highness Princess Dina Mired, the University of Jordan today hosted the launch of the fourth local report on the tobacco industry interference index in Jordan in the presence of the University President, Dr. Nazir Obaidat, representatives of civil society organizations who prepared the report, and a number of other representatives. The president and a group of college deans, faculty members, guests, interested parties, and students.
Northern Ireland Environment Minister Andrew Muir MLA has today announced his intention to prohibit the sale and supply of single use vapes by April 2025, bringing Northern Ireland in parallel with the rest of the UK.
The move recognises the strong support from the Northern Ireland public for a ban on single use vapes in response to the UK wide consultation on ‘Creating a Smokefree Generation and Tackling Youth Vaping’.
Islamabad : Pakistan has remained unsuccessful in minimising the influence of the multinational tobacco manufacturing companies which eventually resulted in over 160 deaths annually, revealed a global study.
The Good Governance in Tobacco Control (GGTC), an international watchdog on tobacco control, in its latest finding of 2023 has included Pakistan in an index where the tobacco industry heavily influences the governments.
Progga (Knowledge for Progress), a research and advocacy organization as well as a member of Stop Tobacco Pollution Alliance (STPA), has written a letter to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, urging the ministries to work together in banning cigarette filters and vaporizers to address plastic pollution.
MANILA, Philippines — An international civil society watchdog awarded the notorious “Dirty Ashtray” award to the Philippine delegation for its statements inclined to favor the tobacco industry and interpellations that obstructed the agenda of the 10th Conference of Parties (COP10) to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC).
Public health experts are calling on the government to be totally transparent on any past or present dealings its MPs have had with tobacco companies.
The coalition is set to repeal the previous government's smokefree legislation, which would have banned the sale of tobacco to anyone born from 1 January 2009, cut the number of retailers, and de-nicotinised cigarettes.
The government is vowing to still meet Smokefree 2025 targets, but reasons it gave for repealing the previous legislation included that it could lead to a rise in crime and a tobacco black market.
LONDON, United Kingdom - Global progress in policies to reduce tobacco use slowed for the first time in 12 years following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to analysis published on Wednesday by the Global Tobacco Control Progress Hub, which warned millions of people worldwide likely continued to smoke as a result.
It is not something of the past: today tobacco companies still seek to interfere in political decisions to gain advantages, even though the harmful effects of smoking and nicotine are widely known. This is the conclusion of the Global Tobacco Index 2023, which also indicates how tobacco companies are seeking favorable legislation for alternative options to cigarettes, such as electronic cigarettes.
The tobacco lobby apparently has an easy time of it in Germany. According to a recently published report by the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), the influence of the tobacco industry on politics is alarming. In the current tobacco lobby index, Germany is falling further behind in an international comparison - and ends up in 70th place this year, far behind its European neighbors.
Israel ranks 30th out of 90 countries in the index of the strength of the buffer between the tobacco and nicotine industry and the government, after being ranked 12th in 2021 ■ Among the main factors for the deterioration - the growth of the electronic cigarette market ■ "The influence of the tobacco and nicotine companies in Israel on the policy makers is only getting stronger and stronger
The sale of three types of flavored cigarette products distributed by Ceylon Tobacco Company (CTC) has been stopped with immediate effect.
Accordingly, the sale of Dunhill Switch, Dunhill Double Capsule and John Player Gold Pro Cool cigarettes has been stopped.
This step has been taken since November 17.
The Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has frowned at what it called “the insidious interference of the tobacco industry in Nigeria’s pro-public health efforts.”
Speaking at the presentation of the ‘Nigeria Tobacco Industry Interference Index 2023’, on Tuesday, November 21, 2023, in Lagos, the non-governmental organization accused government officials of undermining the National Tobacco Control Act (2015) and the National Tobacco Control Regulations (2019) by openly associating with the industry leaders and their programmes.
Durban — Crooked officials and non-governmental organisations are working in cahoots with the tobacco industry to snuff out efforts to clamp down on the illicit trade of tobacco.
This is according to the South Africa Tobacco Industry Interference Index Report, an annual review of how governments protect public health policies from tobacco industry influence, released this week.
Kenya is among 43 countries where tobacco manufacturers are interfering in tobacco control policies, a report indicates.
Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index 2023, which ranks 90 countries, reveals tobacco industry tactics used to interfere with tobacco control legislations, including promoting electronic tobacco products and hiding environmental damage.
The World Health Organization (WHO), today, officially launches the "Stop the lies" campaign as a vital initiative to protect young people from the tobacco industry and their deadly products, by calling for an end to tobacco industry interference in health policy.
This campaign is supported by new evidence from “The Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index 2023”, published by STOP and the Global Center for Good Governance in Tobacco Control, which shows that efforts to protect health policy from increased tobacco industry interference have deteriorated around the world.
Senegal is ranked 10th in Africa in terms of tobacco industry interference in state policies. The information was given this Wednesday morning by Djibril Wélé, executive secretary of the Senegalese League Against Tobacco, during the launch of the LISTAB report on the tobacco industry interference index. An acceptable ranking that LISTAB is committed to surpassing.
After the launch of the African report on the interference of the tobacco industry on public policies, Senegal has just done the same thing by launching this Wednesday morning its 2023 report on the industry interference index tobacco. On this occasion, the executive secretary of the Senegalese League Against Tobacco announced the ranking of African countries where the interference of the tobacco industry in public policies is very present. “At the African level when the report was published, Senegal ranked 10th . This is still the average compared to other countries like Cameroon where the influence of tobacco is very present,” announced Djibril Wélé, executive secretary of LISTAB.
The SA government has failed to raise its defences against the influence from the tobacco industry, according to a report released on Tuesday by the global tobacco industry watchdog STOP.
SA’s scored 64 in the 2023 global tobacco industry interference index. This is the identical rating it received in STOP’s 2021 report, which noted at the time that the government’s efforts to limit the influence of tobacco companies had weakened during the coronavirus pandemic. The higher the score, the greater the tobacco industry’s interference in public health policies.
The UK has made “no progress” in protecting public health policies from the powerful commercial interests of the tobacco industry, according to a report from health campaign groups.
The Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index ranks the UK 21st globally when it comes to implementing and complying with measures designed to prevent the tobacco industry interfering with policymaking. It is a drop from the UK’s third position in 2021 and best overall ranking in 2019.
Produced by the Tobacco Control Research Group at the University of Bath, with input from Action on Smoking & Health (ASH), ASH Scotland, ASH Wales, and Cancer Research UK, the index covers the period from April 2021 to March 2023.
