The 2021 edition of World No Tobacco Day makes a special request to smokers; “Commit to Quit”. This message is particularly timely, especially at a time when the world continues to struggle to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. The World Health Organization (WHO) notes that “available research suggests smokers are at higher risk of developing...
In 2018 only 38 countries, covering 14% of the global population had sufficiently high tobacco taxes - which means taxing at least 75% of the cost of these health-harming products. By implementing proven policies like tobacco taxes, the costs created by the tobacco industry to local communities and nation can be avoidable. It is...
Lomé, 07 April 2021 This year, World Health Day mandates us to reflect on measures to make the world fairer and healthier. The World Health Organization notes that the world is currently an unequal one because “as COVID-19 has highlighted, some people are able to live healthier lives and have better access to health services...
WHO’s new Technical Manual on Tobacco Tax Policy and Administration shows countries ways to cut down on over US$1.4 trillion in health expenditures and lost productivity due to tobacco use worldwide. Improved tobacco taxation policies can also be a key component of building back better after COVID-19, where countries need additional resources to respond and...
A new WHO report, Tobacco Control To Improve Child Health And Development, calls for raising awareness among practitioners and policymakers about the importance of strong tobacco control measures for protecting the health and development of children, including banning tobacco advertising, implementing 100% smoke-free environments and raising taxes on tobacco. Exposure to tobacco smoke has devastating...
Statement of Leonce SESSOU, Executive Secretary, African Tobacco Control Alliance (ATCA) Lomé 25 February, 2021
A new report by WHO/Europe about women and the tobacco epidemic has been launched. The report, “Through a gender lens: women and tobacco in the WHO European Region”, has revealed that, although tobacco use among women is decreasing overall, the rate is going down at a much slower pace than in men, and in...
There was a time when tobacco companies could market their deadly and addictive products with cartoon characters, svelte women and handsome cowboys. Decades later, with growing evidence and public awareness of the harms of tobacco use, such unscrupulous advertising has been outlawed in many countries. Now, there is increasing evidence that the purveyors of cigarettes and other tobacco and nicotine products...
Introduction While the COVID-19 pandemic has made public health a top priority across the globe, it has also put a strain on health departments, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, which are already burdened with a massive health bill from tobacco-related diseases and death. The tobacco industry, which is responsible for more than 8 million deaths...
ATCA’s COVID-19 and Tobacco Control Resource Centre, launched on Friday 31 July 2020 consists of various documents (more…)
