Report Launch: Beyond Ratification

Tobacco use is arguably the greatest threat to global health. Tobacco use and secondhand smoke kill more people annually than HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined. Yet, tobacco use is also one of the most preventable threats to global health. Cost-effective evidence-based tobacco control programs have succeeded in developed and developing countries alike.

Thomas J. Bollyky presents the core findings and recommendations of his newly released analysis, commissioned and disseminated by the CSIS Center on global Health Policy. The paper focuses on steps the United States should take to advance global tobacco control, including a call for a solidarity levy on tobacco consumption and the creation of a fund which could support the creation of capacity in low and middle income countries. Bollyky argues that while the United States should ratify the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) - a treaty which provides a blueprint for tobacco control - the United States should not lose any time in making tobacco control a conspicuous priority of its global health policies, enhancing resources available for developing country implementation of FCTC objectives, and increasing US technical assistance and surveillance.

A roundtable will follow featuring Bollyky, Tim McAfee, Director of the new CDC Office on Smoking and Health, and Charles Freeman, of the CSIS Freeman Chair of China Studies.