The Union supports bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship as essential to saving lives

Edinburgh, Scotland / 29 May 2013 – This year’s World No Tobacco Day theme focuses on the need to ban tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship – or TAPS – as tobacco control advocates refer to it. The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) strongly supports this campaign, since the removal of TAPS alone has been shown to reduce tobacco consumption by an average of seven percent.

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Bangladesh passes new law to protect workers from second-hand smoke

On 29 April in Dhaka, Bangladesh, members of the national parliament passed a new tobacco law that bans smoking in all workplaces, including restaurants. The Smoking and Tobacco Products Usage (Control) Bill (Amendment) 2013, which significantly amends an earlier law, expands smoking bans to cover all public facilities and workplaces.

Photo: A demonstration organised by WBB Trust, Oruonodoyer Tarun Dol and Green Mind Society in Dhaka demanding the law amendment. Credit: Aminul Islam Sujon, WBB Trust.

Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use Awards 500 Grants Since 2007

Bloomberg Philanthropies today announced that the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use Grants Program has awarded 500 grants since 2007. Since its inception, the programme managed by The Union and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids has distributed $100 million in grants to more than 70 countries. More than 5 billion people—almost 75 percent of the world’s population—live in a country that has received a grant.

Chile's President Piñera and philanthropist Bloomberg launch new tobacco control law

Chile's President Sebastián Piñera officially launched the country's new comprehensive tobacco control legislation at a ceremony in Santiago on 1 March 2013. The new legislation bans smoking in all enclosed public places and prohibits all forms of tobacco advertising.