Email this Page

Tobacco Control

Tobacco use is the leading preventable agent of death in the world today and is responsible for more than five million deaths each year.

Unless urgent action is taken to reverse this global epidemic, the World Health Organization expects that tobacco use will take a greater claim on human health than any single disease and may kill as many as one billion people during this century.

Because of population growth and changing patterns in smoking behavior, due largely to the tobacco industry's strategy of targeting young people and women in the developing world, about 80 percent of tobacco-caused illness and death will be in lower-income countries. In addition to the high costs of treating diseases caused or worsened by tobacco use, including lung cancer, tuberculosis, emphysema, and other chronic lung diseases, tobacco kills people at the peak of wage-earning capacity. This deprives families of their breadwinners and nations of a healthy and productive workforce, leading to lost economic opportunities and a continuation of the cycle of poverty.

WLF seeks to increase attention to the devastating effects of tobacco and reduce tobacco use in the developing world by supporting organizations active in all facets of tobacco control. WLF agrees with the principles of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the world's first international public health treaty.

World No Tobacco Day 2010

World Lung Foundation Supports New Public Education Campaigns in Asia and Europe for World No Tobacco Day

Spotlight: Tobacco Control

Smoking is well-established in Egyptian culture; Egypt is one of the 15 Bloomberg Initiative priority countries, where two-thirds of the world’s smokers live. The Egyptian government has become more serious about facing the dangers of smoking and the intervention of health warnings on cigarette packs. To help build support for graphic pack warnings, WLF worked with NGOs and the backing of Egypt’s Ministry of Health to launch the “Save Yourself” mass media campaign in July 2009.

WLF and Tobacco Control by Numbers

One of five global partners of the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Global Tobacco Use, funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies.
Support of the Framework Convention Alliance, an international coalition of more than 260 tobacco control advocacy organizations that fosters collaboration and information sharing.
$56.6 million disbursed over 2007 and 2008 to support a major international grants program managed by the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union), as well as activities by the World Health Organization and the Framework Convention Alliance.
Five international tobacco control resource centers established by WLF grantee, The Union—in Beijing, Mexico City, Moscow, Delhi, and Cairo.
National and/or sub-national tobacco control mass media campaigns launched in nine countries: China, India, Russia, Mexico, Turkey, Ukraine, Brazil, Egypt, and the Philippines.
Six tobacco control mass media training workshops conducted in Mexico, China, Vietnam, Egypt, and Russia.
Tobacco control ads message-tested for their ability to motivate quit attempts among smokers in ten countries: China, Mexico, Indonesia, India, Vietnam, Russia, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Turkey and Egypt.
Eight reports published on the economics of tobacco taxation.
Supported production of WHO’s landmark MPOWER report, the world’s first-ever comprehensive review of how people in 179 countries use tobacco and what their governments are doing to reverse the tobacco epidemic.

Mohamed El-Ghamrawy, Communications Officer in Egypt, captured the film crew shooting scenes for the final ad “Save Yourself.”

“Save Yourself” aimed to inform millions of Egyptian smokers about the serious effects tobacco has on their health and to motivate them to quit before they become sick. The campaign used hard-hitting, graphic TV ads that had already been proven effective in other countries. These ads were first message-tested with local audiences, then adapted for use in Egyptian media. The campaign aired for six weeks.

Online Communications Manager Stephen Hamill, who works on tobacco control mass media in Egypt and Turkey, traveled to Egypt to observe the message-testing focus groups during the early development stages of the campaign.

What We Do