Back to Annual Meeting

Back to Annual Meeting

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Jonathan Samet, MD, MS, Institute for Global Tobacco Control, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, 410 955 3286, jsamet@jhsph.edu

The harms of smoking are truly global in scope. With the dismantling of trade barriers permitting the burgeoning initiation of smoking in developing countries, the global death rate from tobacco is expected to increase exponentially, causing approximately one billion deaths throughout the twenty-first century. International covenants establish a role for governments in ensuring the conditions for human health and well being, which has been recognized as a central human right. International trade agreements, conversely, prioritize the rights of corporations over health and human rights by providing the tobacco industry with tools to obstruct control policies in both developed and developing countries. This session examines whether nations can act to repel tobacco and protect the human right to health. In particular, we will highlight Mexico as a case study. We will also explore the role of measures to protect persons from exposure to second-hand smoke in the context of comprehensive tobacco control. And we will differentiate the tactics of forces opposing and supporting regulations to eliminate smoking in public places with examples from the Illinois municipal campaigns. The health community should become involved in reversing protections for the tobacco industry through international trade agreements and help promote additional measures to protect public health.

Learning Objectives:

• see abstract

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation