Features

The US Government's recently announced expansion of PEPFAR - the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, is a welcome and important contribution to greatly improve the lives of millions of people living with AIDS around the world.

The $500 million commitment announced today by Michael Bloomberg and Bill Gates to prevent tobacco related deaths, is an historic milestone in addressing the world's most preventable public health crisis.

One hundred percent of the money will directly fund comprehensive asthma treatment in Kenya including diagnosis, medicine, inhalers and case management.

The video, which can be translated into dozens of languages, is available license-free to promote awareness of the impact tobacco youth marketing has on public health.

In January 2008, Turkey approved a country-wide smoke-free law that prohibits smoking inside enclosed public places.

By joining the growing number of world nations (168) that support the FCTC, Russia has committed to taking strong measures to confront its growing tobacco epidemic. Approximately 400,000 Russians die of smoking-related illnesses every year.

The new regulations, which entered into effect this month, augment the existing smoke free law by banning smoking in several public places, including offices, hospitals, primary and secondary schools, cinemas, concert halls and museums and libraries among others.

The Tropical Disease Foundation, has opened the first International Tuberculosis Center in Asia to combat Multi-Drug Resistant TB (MDR-TB). The state-of-the-art facility will provide treatment, research, training and a steady supply of much-needed medications in the Philippines and across Asia.

The WHO report, funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, is the world's first-ever comprehensive report of how people in 179 countries use tobacco and what their governments are doing to reduce the health effects of tobacco use.