Editor
Mar 28, 2013
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is launching the second year of its “Tips from Former Smokers” advertising campaign that tells the harsh truth about how devastating cigarette smoking truly is.
Continue reading Former Smokers Are Back With More Tips to Save Lives
Editor
Feb 22, 2013
There will be plenty of glitz and glamour at the Academy Awards this weekend, but there’s one thing about the Oscars that’s not so glamorous: the continued prevalence of smoking in movies.
Continue reading On Oscars Weekend, Urging Hollywood to Quit Smoking Onscreen and Off
Editor
Feb 12, 2013
As China celebrates the week-long Lunar New Year holiday, cigarettes are casting a deadly pall over the festivities.
A new report by Bloomberg News highlights how the exchange of cigarettes as gifts is a deeply ingrained part of the country’s New Year celebrations, contributing to a tobacco epidemic that kills more than one million Chinese each year.
Continue reading Deadly Gifts for Chinese New Year
Editor
Jan 16, 2013
Bangladesh has one of the world’s highest rates of tobacco use, with an estimated 58 percent of men and 29 percent of women using some form of tobacco. Tobacco kills 57,000 of the country’s citizens each year – an average of 156 people each day.
Continue reading Death Clock Tallies Tobacco’s Toll in Bangladesh
Editor
Jan 9, 2013
Kentucky has a great opportunity this year to become the next smoke-free state.
The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids this week joined other public health organizations in launching an ad campaign calling for a comprehensive, statewide smoke-free law to protect all Kentuckians’ health and the state’s economy.
Continue reading New Ads Call for Smoke-Free Kentucky
Editor
Jan 7, 2013
“We want smokers to understand that each packet of cigarettes increases their risk of cancer.”
That’s how the United Kingdom’s chief medical officer, Prof. Dame Sally Davies, describes a graphic new anti-smoking ad campaign launched by the UK's Department of Health.
Continue reading UK launches graphic anti-smoking ad
Editor
Dec 28, 2012
Many smokers will ring in the New Year with resolutions to quit for good. People who stop smoking can greatly reduce their risk for many diseases and premature death, while protecting family member and others around them from harmful secondhand smoke.
Continue reading Start the New Year Tobacco-Free
Editor
Dec 21, 2012
Taking historic action to reduce smoking in the Philippines, President Benigno Aquino has signed a new law that will significantly increase cigarette taxes.
This new law will help reduce tobacco’s deadly toll in the Philippines, where 28 percent of the population smokes – including nearly half of all men – and more than 35,000 Filipinos die each year from tobacco-related disease. We applaud President Aquino and lawmakers who supported the law for taking such strong action to reduce tobacco use.
Continue reading Victory in the Philippines: President Signs Historic Cigarette Tax Increase
Editor
Dec 17, 2012
Recently, we released a report showing that the states this year will collect a record $25.7 billion in revenue from the 1998 tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes, but will spend less than two percent of it — $459.5 million — on programs to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit. That’s less than two pennies of every dollar in tobacco revenue to fight tobacco use.
Continue reading Zero Dollars for Prevention Risks More Teen Smokers in North Carolina
Editor
Nov 5, 2012
The U.S. Surgeon General and other public health experts have found that smoking damages nearly every organ in the human body and harms health at every stage of life. Increasingly, we are learning of the many ways that smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke harm reproductive and child health.
Continue reading Evidence Grows of How Smoking Harms Reproductive, Child Health
Editor
Aug 30, 2012
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that its unprecedented anti-smoking ad campaign — Tips from Former Smokers (TIPS) — motivated hundreds of thousands of smokers to seek help quitting.
The 12-week campaign, which ended June 10, featured the real stories of former smokers who are suffering the debilitating health effects of their tobacco use.
Continue reading CDC’s Powerful Ads Motivate Smokers to Get Help Quitting
Editor
Aug 20, 2012
Matthew L. Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, has written an op-ed in The Huffington Post warning against complacency in the fight against tobacco use and calling on elected officials in the United States to finish the fight against the nation’s number one cause of preventable death.
Continue reading Let’s Finish the Fight Against Tobacco
Editor
Aug 8, 2012
Missouri voters in November can prevent kids from smoking and save lives by approving a ballot initiative to increase the state’s lowest-in-the-nation cigarette tax by 73 cents per pack.
Continue reading Missouri Can Rise from the Ashes in November by Increasing Low Tobacco Tax
Editor
Aug 3, 2012
A new report released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that tobacco companies are manipulating their products to avoid taxes and regulations aimed at reducing smoking, undermining the fight against the nation’s leading cause of preventable death.
In particular, tobacco companies have mislabeled roll-your-own tobacco as pipe tobacco and increased the weight of many cigars to escape higher tobacco taxes imposed by a 2009 federal law. By keeping the prices of these products low, tobacco companies are attracting kids and keeping smokers hooked.
Continue reading CDC Report Exposes Tobacco Companies’ Latest Tricks to Promote Smoking
Editor
Jul 24, 2012
The Vietnamese government has approved the country’s first-ever comprehensive tobacco control law, marking a public health milestone for the country.
The new law requires smoke-free work places and public places with few exceptions, mandates large, graphic cigarette health warnings, and places strong restrictions on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.
Continue reading Victory for Health in Vietnam
Editor
Jul 19, 2012
A new smoking cessation campaign is making waves in Thailand and around the world, spreading a powerful and effective message to quit smoking.
Continue reading Ad Campaign in Thailand Sends Powerful Message to Quit Smoking
Editor
Jul 11, 2012
In a new segment, ABC News Nightline returns to Indonesia, a playground for the tobacco industry where tobacco marketing is inescapable and kids can easily buy cigarettes right outside their schools.
Continue reading ABC’s Nightline Investigates Philip Morris International’s Marketing to Indonesian Youth
Editor
Jun 21, 2012
A new segment broadcast by Australian Broadcasting Corporation highlights the alarming tobacco epidemic affecting Indonesia's most vulnerable population — its children. The story follows an eight year old boy who has been smoking cigarettes for nearly four years and illustrates how the tobacco industry targets young smokers in Indonesia
Continue reading Australian News Program Highlights Alarming Epidemic Affecting Indonesia’s Children
Editor
Apr 24, 2012
Kids say the darndest things — and some of the smartest, too.
When Linda Kelsch’s third grade students at Linton Elementary School in Linton, North Dakota, were asked to express their opinions about a community issue, they chose to write about a proposal before the City Council to require smoke-free public places and work places.
Continue reading The Kids Get It: Secondhand Smoke Kills
Editor
Mar 6, 2012
Big tobacco companies already have coughed up nearly $15 million to try to kill a California ballot initiative that would boost the state's cigarette tax by $1 to fund cancer research and tobacco-prevention programs.
"Shame on them," says Dr. Richard Gray, president of the American Heart Association Western States Affiliate. "But we aren’t surprised — they will always put their profits before the health of millions of Californians."
Continue reading Big Tobacco Bankrolls Fight Against California Measure to Reduce Smoking, Save Lives
Editor
Feb 14, 2012
Tired of chocolates? Are flowers all too forgettable?
Give the enduring gift of better heart health by quitting smoking or encouraging a loved one to quit this Valentine’s Day.
In addition to causing cancer and respiratory diseases, smoking is also a leading cause of heart disease. In fact, about 130,000 deaths from cardiovascular disease every year are attributable to smoking, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 26 percent of heart attacks and 12-19 percent of strokes are attributable to smoking, the CDC says.
Continue reading Show the Love on Valentine’s Day
Editor
Feb 7, 2012
The percentage of teens exposed to secondhand smoke in cars has declined significantly, yet more than a fifth of non-smoking middle and high school students are exposed to smoke in vehicles, putting them at risk of disease including acute respiratory and ear infections, delayed lung growth and more severe asthma attacks.
Continue reading Despite Progress, Teens Still Exposed to Secondhand Smoke in Cars
Editor
Jan 6, 2012
Deaths from cancer continue to decline, pushed downward by critical prevention strategies, especially progress against smoking. The American Cancer Society’s annual report on cancer statistics says better screening and treatment also play a role.
Continue reading Prevention Drives Drop in Cancer Deaths
Editor
Dec 20, 2011
Ten national public health and medical groups have called on the Orange Bowl Committee and the NCAA to cancel a cigar company sponsorship of the marquee college football game to prevent tobacco marketing at one of the nation’s premier sporting events.
Davidoff of Geneva, parent company of Camacho Cigars, last week announced that it has signed a three-year deal making Camacho Cigars a corporate sponsor of the Orange Bowl Festival, which includes the 2012, 2013, and 2014 Discover Orange Bowls, the 2013 Discover BCS National Championship game and related fan events. The 2013 Discover BCS National Championship game will draw particularly intense fan interest and media attention.
Continue reading Orange Bowl Must Drop Tobacco Sponsorship
Editor
Dec 9, 2011
Slow progress in bringing smoking rates down, coupled with dramatic increases in obesity and diabetes, mean the nation's overall health didn't improve in the past year.
United Health Foundation’s annual report, America’s Health Rankings, ranks states based on progress in fighting the causes of chronic diseases that are overburdening the health care system and driving up costs. States that showed the most improvement this year were New York and New Jersey — both of which advanced because of strides in reducing smoking.
Continue reading Let’s Get Healthier: Take Action for Change
Marina Carter, International Press Secretary
Nov 18, 2011
Marking five years of significant achievements in global tobacco control, Bloomberg Philanthropies has released a report on the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use that shows ground-breaking progress in reducing tobacco use and protecting everyone from secondhand smoke.
Continue reading Bloomberg Philanthropies Reports Progress in Fighting Global Tobacco Epidemic
Editor
Nov 9, 2011
Indonesia's Constitutional Court has upheld critical tobacco control related aspects of the country's 2009 Health Law, affirming that tobacco is indeed addictive and making it clear that pictorial warnings on cigarette packs are required and not just optional.
The ruling came on a challenge to the law backed by tobacco companies, which are politically powerful and have aggressively fought efforts to reduce tobacco use. The Indonesian government has lagged in implementing the law, bowing to the clout of tobacco interests.
Continue reading Court Upholds Key Indonesian Tobacco-Control Laws
Editor
Oct 12, 2011
World Health Organization Director-General Margaret Chan has accused the tobacco industry of dirty tricks and unethical behavior in its latest efforts to challenge tobacco-control laws and policies around the world.
Continue reading WHO Chief Slams Big Tobacco’s Big Money and “Dirty Tricks”
Editor
Sep 30, 2011
While the United States has made huge progress in reducing smoking, not all Americans are benefiting equally. Where you work can make a big difference in whether you smoke — and how healthy you are.
Continue reading Where You Work Affects Whether You Smoke
Editor
Aug 30, 2011
From Philip Morris International’s Indonesian subsidiary Sampoerna comes a new billboard with a jaw-dropping slogan: "Dying is better than leaving a friend. Sampoerna is a cool friend."
See it in the full post.
Continue reading Philip Morris International Suggests Cigarettes are “a Cool Friend” for Indonesians
Editor
Jul 1, 2011
Fireworks can be transformed from a patriotic tradition into a personal celebration of freedom from nicotine for smokers who take steps to quit or get the support they need to break free of cigarettes.
Continue reading Declare Your Independence from Cigarettes
Editor
Jun 24, 2011
Widening its lens beyond the image of Indonesia’s infamous “smoking baby,” Current TV plans to air an hour long documentary Tuesday night that exposes the tobacco industry’s deadly expansion into Indonesia, where it is addicting a new generation and helping to create a global epidemic of deaths caused by tobacco use.
Continue reading For Big Tobacco, Indonesia is the new Marlboro Country
Editor
Jun 21, 2011
The Food and Drug Administration has unveiled nine bold, graphic health warnings that will be required on cigarette packs and advertisements beginning in September, 2012.
Continue reading Graphic Warning Labels Update
Editor
Jun 17, 2011
On Fathers' Day, encourage fathers to lead by example.
Help a Dad quit smoking, or eliminate a family's exposure to deadly secondhand smoke by making the house, the car and other places where the kids gather smoke-free.
Continue reading Fathers Who Know Best Don’t Smoke
Editor
May 24, 2011
As states from coast to coast continue to struggle with serious budget woes, Tennessee's Lieutenant Governor has a message for them: Using public funds to help smokers covered by state health insurance programs quit is a "no brainer."
Continue reading True Conservatives Know Helping Smokers Quit Saves Money
Editor
May 17, 2011
An all-star lineup of Major League Baseball notables including Brett Butler, a cancer survivor who played in the majors for 17 seasons, and ESPN analyst and former Mets manager Bobby Valentine, discuss the dangerous use of smokeless tobacco in baseball and its negative impact on young fans on HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel tonight.
Continue reading “I Dip Because You Do”
Editor
May 6, 2011
Lung cancer — not breast cancer — is the leading cancer killer among women, and smoking causes 80 percent of these deaths.
So there's no better gift for Mom this Mother's Day than giving her the encouragement, support and information she needs to help her stop smoking.
Continue reading Need a Last Minute Gift for Mom?
Editor
Apr 27, 2011
Health ministers from around the world are meeting in Moscow this week to discuss the growing global health threat from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cancer and heart disease. Russia’s severe tobacco epidemic makes it a case study in NCDs.
The good news is that the Russian public strongly supports effective solutions: Eight in ten Russians — including nearly two-thirds of daily smokers — support a national tobacco control policy to help reduce tobacco use.
Continue reading Russian Public Enthusiastic about Tobacco Control as Health Leaders Meet
Editor
Apr 7, 2011
Tobacco use is a risk factor for all major categories of non-communicable diseases — heart disease, cancer, chronic respiratory disease and diabetes — and tobacco control must be the "top priority" if the world is to reduce the toll of diseases that now cause two out of every three deaths worldwide, according to a global alliance of scientists and non-governmental organizations.
Continue reading United Nations to Tackle Global Threat from Tobacco-Caused Disease
Editor
Mar 17, 2011
If you’re having a pint for St. Patrick's Day — and sipping in a smoke-free bar — be sure to tip your hat to Ireland, too.
In March 2004, the Republic of Ireland became the first country in the world to implement a comprehensive, nationwide smoke-free law for all workplaces, including restaurants and pubs. At first, there was widespread disbelief that it could happen in a nation where smoking and drinking were so much a part of local culture. Television crews from around the world turned up in Dublin to record what was heralded as a stunning — if uncertain — change.
Continue reading Leprechauns Love Smoke-Free Pubs
Editor
Mar 17, 2011
The tobacco industry’s spin machine has gone into overdrive as we near the March 23 deadline for an Food and Drug Administration science advisory committee to issue a report on menthol cigarettes.
It's trying to convince the media — and nervous investors — that the committee will find menthol does not make cigarettes any more harmful, and nothing should be done about it.
Continue reading Panel on Menthol Sees Through Tobacco Industry’s Smoke
Editor
Mar 14, 2011
In the spirit of Nick Naylor, the fictitious tobacco-industry lobbyist lampooned in the 2005 film Thank You for Smoking, lobbyists seeking to keep Oklahoma cities and towns from setting their own smoke-free policies are enjoying a business boom.
The Oklahoman reports that big tobacco companies have hired at least 13 lobbyists to try to defeat legislation that would let cities regulate smoking in public places.
Continue reading Smoke-Free Battle in Oklahoma Shows How Far Big Tobacco Will Go to Protect Profits
Editor
Mar 2, 2011
Thousands of international, scientific studies have proved the addictive power of nicotine, the essential element in tobacco products that gets people hooked and keeps them using a product that kills them.
That arresting video of a chain-smoking Indonesian toddler that went viral on the Web last year was clear and disturbing proof that this potent drug can work its deadly grip on anyone, of any age.
Continue reading Tobacco Supporters in Indonesia Still Say It’s Not Addictive
Editor
Feb 25, 2011
Tinsel Town and tobacco have a long and unhealthy relationship. Movies often glamorize smoking and in years past, the tobacco companies paid millions to film producers to get their brands placed on screen.
Society's attitudes about smoking have changed a lot over the past few decades. Hollywood's? Not so much.
Continue reading Why doesn’t Oscar® Quit?
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We blog news and information about the global movement to reduce tobacco use and its devastating toll.
We expose the tobacco industry's deceitful practices and chronicle the work of advocates in the United States and around the globe who are battling the world’s leading cause of preventable death.
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