On Monday, July 16, the President of Vietnam, Truong Tan Sang, signed into law a comprehensive tobacco control bill. The law mandates 100% smoke-free environments in almost all public places, including restaurants in Vietnam. It also requires 50% of tobacco package surfaces to have graphic pictorial warnings, while also strengthening the nation’s advertising ban. Mike Bloomberg visited Vietnam earlier this year and had this to say about the news:

“I want to congratulate Vietnam for officially going smoke-free. Last week, Vietnam adopted a comprehensive tobacco control law which makes virtually all public places 100% smoke-free and requires vivid health warnings on all tobacco packages. These are proven practices that Bloomberg Philanthropies advocates through its work to reduce tobacco use,” said Michael Bloomberg. “Tobacco control is a key initiative of Bloomberg Philanthropies because we know reducing smoking and exposure to second hand smoke saves lives. This significant step in Vietnam, where we have been working since 2007, is encouraging for tobacco control efforts globally. I visited Vietnam in March and spoke with the Prime Minister about this important issue and I want to applaud him and the other government leaders for their strong commitment to saving lives and standing up for the health of the people of Vietnam.”

(Source: mikebloomberg.com)

In India, more and more states are taking the large, but necessary step of banning the sale of gutka. On Wednesday, the state of Rajasthan joined Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh as the sixth state to ban the sale of the chewing tobacco. This cheap, mass-produced mix of tobacco and other ingredients is creating an epidemic across India. Last week, Maharashtra, where Mumbai is located, became the fourth state to make the sale of gutka illegal. With the highest rate in the world, this tobacco filled drug is the cause of 75,000 to 80,000 new cases of oral cancer ever year, and has over five million Indian children are addicted to tobacco. The ban on this chewing tobacco is an important one for anti-tobacco efforts worldwide.  Read more about the ruling here. And for more information about the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use visit here: http://www.mikebloomberg.com/index.cfm?objectid=3A9E3B81-C29C-7CA2-F32D97DE06EC82C7 

A new study – funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies and appearing in the journal Tobacco Control — found that worldwide smoking rates could be reduced by 44 percent in only 20 years if countries immediately adopt the proven tobacco-control policies developed by the World Health Organization and implemented via the Bloomberg Initiative on Global Tobacco Control. These policies, collectively known as the MPOWER package, include higher tobacco taxes, programs to help smokers quit, advertising bans and anti-tobacco education programs.

Kelly Henning, M.D., director of Public Health Programs at Bloomberg Philanthropies said, “We know when MPOWER measures are implemented, the results are clear: fewer people use tobacco and they live longer, healthier lives. This research clearly shows just how effective these policies can be if they are broadly adopted. We are proud of the progress to date of the Bloomberg Initiative, but there is still much work to be done.”

According to the study, the global adult smoking rate was 23.7 percent in 2010. The author estimate that if no additional policies are set in place, global prevalence will continue to grow to 872 million smokers by 2030. However, if countries immediately implement MPOWER, the global smoking prevalence would fall to 523 million smokers by 2030.  

Matthew Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said in a statement that “No other public health measures have the potential to save so many lives in such a short time. These findings are a powerful reminder to governments that we know how to dramatically reduce tobacco use, the world’s number one cause of preventable death.”

Given that half of lifetime tobacco users are killed by tobacco-related sickness, these policies have the potential to save tens of millions of lives.

Read the full study [subscription required]

Mayor Bloomberg presents Mr. Daniel Tan, Health Justice, Philippines with an MPOWER award for the law group’s efforts to monitor tobacco industry influence.

Watch this video to learn more about the Health Justice’s work to monitor the influence of the tobacco industry in the Philippines.

Many argue that raising tobacco taxes is perhaps the most effective tool in the tobacco control arsenal. Numerous case studies in cities and states have shown that higher prices reduce the number of smokers and induce those who continue to smoke to consume fewer cigarettes per day.

It is estimated that for each 10% increase in retail prices, consumption is reduced by about 4% in high-income countries and by about 8% in low-and-middle-income countries.

Higher taxes are especially effective at curbing youth smoking. Young people and low-income smokers are two to three times more likely to quit or smoke less than other smokers after prices increases.

Bloomberg Philanthropies is funding dual tracks of work in India – where 1,500 people die every day from tobacco-related diseases - to leverage the power of higher tobacco taxes. While simultaneously advocating for national tax increases, Bloomberg grantees and partner organizations are effectively lobbying state ministers of finance to increase state taxes on tobacco products.  Success has been swift and impactful with four Indian states raising tobacco taxes in the last 30 days alone. 

Simply warning people about the dangers of tobacco can be another highly effective way to curb usage.

As our partners at The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids highlight, research shows large, graphic warning labels can be a motivator for smokers to quit, discourage nonsmokers from picking up the deadly habit and keep ex-smokers from restarting. In the past five years, Bloomberg Philanthropies has helped fund efforts to make warning labels more graphic and effective, especially in the countries where they’re needed most.

In India, a Bloomberg-funded Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) helped pave the way for new graphic warning labels that started appearing in December 2011. The Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare approved two sets of four images—one set for smoked tobacco products and another set for smokeless products.

According to the Ministry, the decision to require harsher images for chewing tobacco was a direct result of the GATS findings that showed the use of smokeless tobacco is higher among both men and women than smoked tobacco products.

Effective warnings aren’t only found on tobacco products, but can come in the form of smart ad campaigns. Vietnam saw success two years ago with a campaign modeled from New York City’s highly successful “Cigarettes are Eating You Alive” advertisements. With Bloomberg Philanthropies’ funding, the World Lung Foundation supported Vietnam’s Ministry of Health and local stakeholders on the technical aspects of the campaign, including message testing, production, media purchasing, evaluation and public relations.

Posters were distributed to hospitals across Vietnam and to partners working in health, education and transportation facilities.

A post-campaign evaluation found that 70% of respondents in Vietnam recalled seeing the campaign, and more than three-quarters of smokers who had seen it said it made them more likely to quit and think twice before exposing others to their smoke.

Back in the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control recently launched a groundbreaking new campaign that will feature tips from former smokers who are suffering the painful consequences of the habit. The initiative stems from the overwhelming evidence that warning labels work. 

Bill Gates and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced that they would spend $500 million to stop people around the world from smoking.

The announcement was made at a joint news conference at TheTimesCenter in Midtown Manhattan attended by foundation staffers and foreign students enrolled in a tobacco control program at Johns Hopkins University that is supported by Mr. Bloomberg. He has campaigned against smoking for years, but this is a new direction for the Gates Foundation.

The $500 million would be spent on a multipronged campaign — nicknamed Mpower — that Mr. Bloomberg and Dr. Margaret Chan, director of the health organization, outlined in February. It coordinates efforts by the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use, the World Health Organization, the World Lung Foundation, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the foundation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.