China’s State Tobacco Company is Massive at Home. Now it’s Ready to Take Over the World
It’s the biggest cigarette company you’ve never heard of. While the China National Tobacco Corporation (CNTC) produces nearly half the world’s cigarettes, almost all of them have been consumed at home. Until recently. In 2015, state-owned CNTC jumped on China’s “Belt and Road” initiative, a global strategy for developing Chinese infrastructure and trade that built on the...
China Tobacco Goes Global
You’ve heard of Marlboro, Camel, and Lucky Strike, but what about Silver Elephant, Red Pagoda Mountain, and Double Happiness? China National Tobacco Corporation is the world’s largest tobacco company, accounting for nearly half of global cigarette production. The secretive state-backed giant holds a virtual monopoly over China’s vast tobacco market, the world’s largest, selling more...
Revealed: Big Tobacco behind dairy owners’ postcard protest at Parliament
Postcards from dairy owners protesting against restrictions on selling cigarettes appear to have been supplied by British American Tobacco. The postcards - "thousands of them", according to Act deputy leader Brooke van Velden - were delivered to her this morning on Parliament's forecourt. They follow the release of the Government's proposals for Smokefree Aotearoa 2025, which...
New WHO report shows how manufacturers attempt to avoid regulation of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products
A new WHO report “Litigation relevant to regulation of novel and emerging nicotine and tobacco products: comparison across jurisdictions” offers governments examples of the legal arguments that industry has used in attempts to evade or minimize regulation, as well as how courts have addressed those arguments. In recent years, regulation of novel and emerging nicotine...
Nigeria: Groups seek enforcement of smoking ban in movies
"36 movies were screened in total, picked from English, Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba genres. All the 36 movies reviewed had smoking scenes, some in a scene while others were in multiple scenes." Participants at a summit on Smoking in Movies (#Smokefreenollywood) held in Lagos have called for the immediate commencement of enforcement of the ban...
Nigeria: NTCA, CAPPA Urge Government Agencies To Enforce Pictorial Health Warnings On Tobacco Packs
As the Federal Government begins the enforcement of the health warning requirements of the National Tobacco Control (NTC) Act 2015 and the Tobacco Control Regulations 2019 on all tobacco products manufactured and distributed in Nigeria from today, the Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA) and the Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) have urged...
Botswana: Mbongwe – Sheer will to win the fight against tobacco use
It is not everyday that you meet someone whose commitment to a cause is never unshaken. Often times, people start something, then get derailed along the way and shift focus. However, that has never been the case for Ramotswa-born Professor Bontle Mbongwe, whose commitment to fight tobacco use is unrivalled. She has lost many of...
146 million Africans die yearly from tobacco-related diseases: WHO
The World Health Organisation has revealed that no fewer than 146 million Africans die annually from tobacco-related diseases. Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa said this on Thursday during a virtual press conference. Moeti said tobacco was the leading cause of preventable deaths in the world, emphasized that “smoking damages nearly every organ...
Bangladesh: Tobacco tax — for better public health or tobacco companies’ profitability?
The finance minister proposed a mega budget on the eve of the golden jubilee of independence of the country. Even though the budget offers some good features including increasing coverage of safety-net, reduction in corporate tax to boost industrial growth, ten years' tax holiday for establishing hospitals outside of big cities to incentivise decentralisation...
Nigeria: Young student-smokers
Editorial We commend Ogun State’s actions to check the trend; others should follow It is commendable that the Ogun State government, disturbed by the prevalence of smoking among secondary school students in the state, has intensified its campaign against drug abuse and cigarette smoking. Commissioner for Health Dr Tomi Coker highlighted the state’s fight against smoking at...
