Global Tobacco Control
The Issue in Brief
O’Neill Institute is a leader in the effort to reduce global tobacco use.Tobacco use is arguably the greatest public health threat facing the world today; left unchecked, it will kill 1 billion people this century. The majority of these deaths will occur in developing countries targeted by the tobacco industry after stronger tobacco control laws and higher taxes reduced demand in developed markets.
The O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law is a leader in the effort to reduce global tobacco use. The O’Neill Institute’s Global Tobacco Control work is comprised of three main programs. First, the O’Neill Institute is researching the use of litigation as an approach for reducing tobacco use. In countries that have ratified key U.N. human rights treaties, the WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control or have otherwise adopted a positive right to health, litigation is an important tool in forcing industry to comply with domestic and international law as well as encouraging governments to adopt stronger tobacco control laws. Second, in partnership with domestic and international organizations, the O’Neill Institute is drafting shadow reports to accompany States’ Periodic Reports to U.N. human rights monitoring bodies to emphasize the close relationship between strong tobacco control laws and the protection of civil, political, social and economic rights. Third, the O’Neill Institute works with advocates in low-and middle-income countries to target rights-based and constitutional arguments to their specific cultural, economic, and political environments.
The O’Neill Institute has received a grant from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids to support this work as part of the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use.
Selected Project Highlights
- March 19, 2009: O’Neill Institute law fellows meet with the Chair of India’s National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights to explore possibilities to reduce child participation in tobacco manufacturing.
- May 4, 2009: O’Neill Institute presents a shadow report to accompany Brazil’s periodic report to the U.N. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Preventing and Reducing Tobacco Use in Brazil: Pending Tasks.
- June 12, 2009: O’Neill Institute law fellows present overview on human-rights based litigation strategies to regional meeting of Latin American tobacco control attorneys.
- July 23, 2009: O’Neill Institute law fellows observe evidentiary hearing held to consider evidence that Mexico’s national tobacco control law inadequately protects Mexican citizens’ constitutional right to health and violates obligations imposed by virtue of its accession to the FCTC.
- October 15-16, 2009: O’Neill Institute presents overview on shadow reporting strategies to regional tobacco control meeting in Mexico City.their specific cultural, economic, and political environments. The O’Neill Institute has received a grant from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids to support this work as part of the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use.
