The theme for World No Tobacco Day on May 31, an annual initiative of WHO and the Secretariat of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), is plain packaging of tobacco products. Plain packaging prohibits the use of logos, colours, and promotional labelling on cigarettes and handrolled tobacco and gives graphic health warnings more prominence. In the FCTC, the legally binding internat...

Smoking cessation is the only way to quickly mitigate the burden of disease and the increased risk of death faced by smokers. In this issue of the Journal, He et al. (Am J Epidemiol. 2014;179(9):1060-1070) document lower relative risks of overall and cause-specific mortality among former smokers compared with continuing smokers in a cohort in China. For China, an immediate increase in the pace ...

INTRODUCTION Article 11 of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) forms the basis for regulation of tobacco product packaging and labelling. Countries are required to implement these measures within three years after becoming a Party to the Convention. This paper aims to assess the progress made in the implementation of Article 11 in countries of the Ea...

The World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC) has prompted major change in tobacco control globally. However, policy implementation has been uneven, making 'smoke free' outcomes possible in some countries, but not others. We identify the factors that would improve implementation. We describe an ideal type of 'comprehensive tobacco control regimes', where po...

Transnational tobacco manufacturing and tobacco leaf companies engage in numerous efforts to oppose global tobacco control. One of their strategies is to stress the economic importance of tobacco to the developing countries that grow it. We analyze tobacco industry documents and ethnographic data to show how tobacco companies used this argument in the case of Malawi, producing and disseminating...

Tobacco use is the world's leading cause of preventable morbidity and mortality. Although Oman remains a country with the lowest tobacco use in the Arab Gulf States, the prevalence of tobacco use is projected to increase to 33.3% by 2025. In 2005, Oman acceded to the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, an international treaty with numerous obligations aiming to ...

Nicotine replacement therapies (NRT) are powerful tools for the successful treatment of nicotine addiction and tobacco use. The medicines are clinically effective, supported by the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, and are now World Health Organization-approved essential medicines. Enabling global access to NRT remains a challenge given ongoing confusion and misperceptions about their ef...

GENEVA, 10 January 2013 – The Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products, adopted by the Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) in November, was opened for signature by the Parties in a ceremony at WHO Headquarters. The new international treaty is aimed at combating illegal trade in tobacco products through control of the supply chain and internationa...

The World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) requires member countries to implement measures aimed at reducing the demand for tobacco products. FCTC article 11 describes the important forms of health communication and packaging regulations. And this article recommends on large pictorial health warnings and encourages more effective forms of disclosure on co...