A $4m (£2.7m) fighting fund to help governments around the world in legal battles against the tobacco industry has been announced by Bloomberg Philanthropies, seeking to assist countries which are making slow progress curbing smoking.
While smoking is becoming a marginalised pastime in more affluent countries where laws on smoking in public places are in force, there is concern about the tobacco industry push-back that involves legal challenges to new measures such as plain packaging.
The fund, to which the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is also contributing, will give countries the technical support of legal experts to draw up legislation as well as defend court actions brought by tobacco companies. It is expected to grow as other donors join in. Australia and Uruguay are two of the countries where public health measures have been challenged by industry.
At the 16th World Conference on Tobacco or Health in Abu Dhabi, Margaret Chan, director general of the World Health Organisation, also pointed to the danger.
“In an ominous trend, in some countries the battle between tobacco and health has moved into the courts,” she said. “Governments wishing to protect their citizens through larger pictorial warnings on cigarette packs or by introducing plain packaging are being intimidated by industry’s threats of lengthy and costly litigation. This is an effort to deprive governments of their sovereign right to legislate in the public interest. We will push back hard.”
Smoking killed 10 million people in the last century and is predicted to cause 1 billion deaths this century. A global report launched at the conference found there were 3.9 billion smokers aged 15 and over in WHO member states in 2010. By 2025, that number is predicted to grow to 5 billion if the present pace of tobacco control continues. Experts say the global target – to cut smoking worldwide by 30% from 2010 levels by 2025 – will not be reached if more action is not taken. Smoking rates have fallen for both men and women in most countries, but only 37 nations are on course to meet the target.
The tobacco industry has invoked trade agreements to counter anti-smoking measures – in Uruguay against graphic health warnings on packaging and in Australia against “plain” or unremarkable standardised packs.
“We are at a critical moment in the global effort to reduce tobacco use, because the significant gains we have seen are at risk of being undermined by the tobacco industry’s use of trade agreements and litigation,” said Michael R Bloomberg. “We will stand with nations as they work to protect their populations against the deadly health effects of tobacco use.”
“Country leaders who are trying to protect their citizens from the harms of tobacco should not be deterred by threats of costly legal challenges from huge tobacco companies,” said Bill Gates. “Australia won its first case, which sends a strong message. But smaller, developing countries don’t have the same resources. That’s why we are supporting the Anti-Tobacco Trade Litigation Fund with Bloomberg Philanthropies.”