Vital Strategies partners in Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Mexico, Nepal, Peru, Uruguay and Vietnam, many of them grantees of the Tobacco Control Grants Program, have been honored with World No Tobacco Day Awards recognizing achievements ranging from Nepal’s implementation of 100% pictorial health warnings to Vietnam’s electronic cigarette ban to exposing tobacco industry interference, and much more.
World No Tobacco Day is observed every May 31 to highlight the health and economic burdens of tobacco use and celebrate progress in reducing these burdens. In the past year, countries have made significant strides in advancing and implementing policies aligned with the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC).
This year’s theme, “Unmasking the Appeal: Exposing Industry Tactics on Tobacco and Nicotine Products,” spotlights the deceptive tactics the tobacco industry and its allies use to market harmful products, especially to youth. The World No Tobacco Day Awards honor individuals and organizations who have made high-impact contributions to tobacco control efforts.
Read on for more about our long-term partners who received World No Tobacco Day Awards this year!
- Ministry of Health and Ministry of Finance, Brazil
The ministries received a shared award in recognition of their work to revitalize the National Commission for the Implementation of WHO FCTC, a longtime partner and grantee of Vital Strategies. The National Tobacco Control Program, through Vital Strategies grantee Divisão de Controle do Tabagismo (Tobacco Control Division), has worked to reinforce the tobacco control sustainability plan by coordinating efforts at the federal, state and municipal levels.
- Asociación de Periodismo con Lupa, Peru
- Cooperativa de Trabajo Sudestada, Uruguay
- Proyecto sobre Organización, Desarrollo, Educación e Investigación (PODER), Mexico
Three grantees of the Tobacco Industry Interference grants program received a joint award to celebrate their work to counter tobacco industry influence in Latin America. Salud con Lupa, a member of the Asociacion de Periodismo con Lupa (Magnifying Glass Journalism Association), investigated ties between vaping groups and Philip Morris International-funded organizations in the region. Cooperativa de Trabajo Sudestada (Sudestada Work Cooperative) exposed industry interference behind efforts to legalize heated tobacco products in the country in 2022. PODER (Project on Organization, Development, Education and Research) published a groundbreaking report linking heated tobacco products to environmental and human rights harms, providing evidence that proved crucial toward supporting Mexico’s constitutional reform banning ENDS and related products. Mexico’s constitutional reform banning ENDS and related products.
- State Tobacco Control Cell, Department of Health and Family, Karnataka, India
Karnataka’s State Tobacco Control Cell has been recognized with a World No Tobacco Day award in the Southeast Asia Region. Our longtime partner has shown outstanding leadership in tobacco control, significantly reducing tobacco use among adults from 28.2% in 2009-2010 to 22.8% in 2016-2017. Karnataka has implemented several key policy decisions, including passing the 2024 amendments to the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) along with a statewide ban on hookah bars. The State Tobacco Control Cell has effectively implemented the National Tobacco Control Program across the state, supported by a well-trained workforce in all 32 districts, and is at the forefront of implementing effective, evidence-based tobacco control policies, including Tobacco Vendor Licensing, Tobacco-Free Educational Institutions, and Tobacco-Free Villages.
- Ms. Dao Hong Lan, Minister of Health, Vietnam
Vietnam’s minister of health, Ms. Dao Hong Lan, has been recognized for her leadership in banning electronic cigarettes and tobacco products, a reflection of her commitment to protect youth from harmful products. Since 2019, Vital Strategies and its grantees have closely supported the Ministry of Health to develop a legal framework for new tobacco products. On Nov. 30, 2024, the Vietnamese National Assembly adopted a unanimous resolution banning the production, sale, import, storage, transportation and use of electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco, a measure that took effect in 2025.
- Ministry of Health and Population, Nepal
Earlier this year, Nepal became the first country in the world to mandate full-coverage health warnings on tobacco packaging, a landmark achievement in global tobacco control. Nepal’s Ministry of Health and Population is being recognized for its role in passing a new directive to increase the size of health warnings on tobacco packaging from 90% to 100%. Vital Strategies supported Nepal to pass 100% pictorial health warnings, a milestone achievement.
To learn more about our tobacco control grants work, make sure to visit the Tobacco Control Grants Program website: https://www.tobaccocontrolgrants.org/