Features

Congratulations to CVS Caremark for ending the sale of tobacco products in its 7,600 stores starting October 1st, 2014. Peter Baldini made the following statement about this milestone for public health:

Maternal Health Program in Tanzania, will supply seven health facilities in Morogoro and Kigoma with medical equipment worth over $80,000 in the first quarter of 2014, in its continued effort to improve maternal health services.

(New Delhi) –– On World Cancer Day, we call for high level commitment on the part of government and communities to reduce the incidence of cancers caused by tobacco products, the number one cause of cancer in India.

(Sochi, Russia and New York, USA) ––Today, the Sochi Olympic organizers are urged to enforce regulations that prohibit smoking at all Olympic venues and restrict smoking in the Olympic Village. The 2014 Olympic Winter Games are the first-ever international games held in Russia following the passage of landmark smoke-free legislation in 2013.

A new tobacco control mass media campaign was launched this week to warn people about the effects of smoking on the heart. The 'Artery" campaign is being aired by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare depicting how smoking cigarettes and bidis leads to the build up of dangerous fatty deposits in the heart, leading to strokes, heart disease and heart attacks.

The following statement has been issued to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of “Smoking and Health: Report of the Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General of the United States” (the Surgeon General’s Report), which detailed scientific proof of the health harms of tobacco use.

At the Global Fund’s Fourth Replenishment meeting in Washington, DC last week, a consortium of donor nations, recipient nations and private organizations pledged USD 12 billion for the next three years, a 30 percent increase over the last three-year funding cycle, but still short of the Global Fund USD 15 billion target.

More than 50 per cent of Chinese men smoke cigarettes, placing hundreds of millions at serious risk for heart disease, cancer, other lung diseases, and many more serious illnesses, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS) and partners, co-publishers of The Tobacco Atlas – 4th Edition. Representatives from China Centers for Disease Control, the World Health Organization and the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control joined WLF and ACS in the release of the Chinese version of the Atlas.

Today, at a meeting of the New York City Council Health Committee, we will call for e-cigarettes to be regulated under New York’s Smoke-free Air Act, making the case for regulation in testimony at a Health Committee public hearing.