Fighting Tobacco in the U.S.

In the U.S., we have an unprecedented opportunity to stop the tobacco industry from targeting kids, Black Americans and other communities with flavored products. And we’re committed to doing everything we can to achieve this goal.

We’ll push the Biden Administration to keep its promise to ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars. They promised to issue the rules by the end of 2023, but now they’re delaying. We’ll keep the pressure on with hard-hitting communications and grassroots campaigns. And we’ll be ready to defend the rules in the courts and Congress when Big Tobacco challenges them.
We’ll push the FDA to finally eliminate all flavored e-cigarettes, which are fueling the youth nicotine addiction crisis. We’ve made important progress, but over 2 million kids still use e-cigarettes and nearly 90% of them use flavored products. We’ll keep pushing the FDA to finish the job and clear the market of all flavored e-cigarettes.
We’ll step up our work at the state and local levels to pass laws ending the sale of flavored tobacco products, protect communities’ right to regulate tobacco, ensure all workers – including casino workers – are protected from deadly secondhand smoke, and more.

Fighting Tobacco Around the World

In low- and middle-income countries targeted by Big Tobacco, we’ll work to pass and implement proven tobacco control policies, help local movements fight back against tobacco industry interference and misinformation, and ensure governments are equipped to sustain progress over the long term.

We’ll mobilize and support local tobacco control movements to advocate for higher tobacco taxes, making these deadly products less affordable and generating government funds for tobacco control and other public health initiatives. We’ll also push for stronger policies banning tobacco advertising and marketing at the 10th Conference of the Parties of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
We’ll provide strategic support to governments fighting the tobacco industry in court to defend their laws and recover the financial costs of death and disease caused by tobacco use.
We’ll continue to build the next generation of leaders in the tobacco control movement by convening young advocates and activating them to support our policy campaigns.

Tackling Other Critical Public Health Challenges

Our Global Health Advocacy Incubator will continue to use the power of advocacy to reduce preventable deaths and to improve public health by changing policies and strengthening health systems.

The Food and Nutrition programs will continue expanding to more countries to advance policies that decrease the consumption of ultra-processed food and beverages and improve food and nutrition security.
The Overdose Prevention Initiative will advocate for U.S. policies that eliminate barriers to FDA-approved medications for opioid use disorder, prioritizing policies that will improve access to evidence-based treatment in high-impact settings, such as in jails and prisons.
The Health Systems Strengthening programs will support domestic resource mobilization for immunization, hypertension treatment, civil registrations systems and epidemic preparedness and facilitate access to birth and death registrations in over 25 countries.
The Road Safety teams in Bangladesh and India are looking forward to the passage of speed management guidelines that will greatly reduce deaths and serious injuries on the road. In China, provinces and cities are poised to expand helmet laws for e-bikes, covering nearly 722 million people.