 | The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject.(March 2018) |
Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) is the name of a number of autonomous pressure groups (charities) in the anglosphere that seek to publicize the risks associated with tobacco smoking and campaign for greater restrictions on use and on cigarette and tobacco sales. [1]
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| Abbreviation | ASH |
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| Founder | Professor John Banzhaf |
| Headquarters | Washington, DC United States |
| Location |
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| Dr. Alfred Munzer (chair), Mr. Doug Blanke, Ms. M.R. (Marion) Wells, Mr. Bunyan Bryant, Mr. Stanley Harmon, and Ms. Cheryl Healton | |
Key people | Laurent Huber (executive director) |
| Website | ash |
In the US, ASH was formed in 1967 by John F. Banzhaf III, and a distinguished body of physicians, attorneys and other prominent citizens who saw the need for an organization to represent nonsmokers’ rights. Over the years, ASH has taken the lead on a variety of initiatives to counter the deaths and economic burden imposed by the tobacco industry.[ citation needed ]
ASH has a long history of advocacy, education and legal initiatives in the fight against tobacco. ASH has fought for health in courts, before legislative bodies and regulatory agencies, as well as international agencies such as the United Nations and the World Health Organization. ASH's work and the work of its allies has spanned more than 40 years. Since the release of the original Surgeon General Report on smoking in January 1964, the global initiative for the prevention of tobacco-related damages has made enormous progress—and ASH has played a major role in achieving this progress.[ citation needed ]
ASH's actions have led to significant progress, including: [2]
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| Abbreviation | ASH |
|---|---|
| Formation | 20 January 1971 |
| Founder | Royal College of Physicians |
| Type | Pressure group / Charity |
| Registration no. | 262067 [3] |
| Headquarters | 67-68 Hatton Garden |
| Location |
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Area served | England |
Key people |
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| Website | ash |
In the United Kingdom, ASH is a registered charity established in 1971, that aims to eliminate the harm caused by tobacco. It works to raise awareness of the health risks of tobacco, and also campaigns for policy measures. It provides the secretariat of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on smoking and health. [4]
ASH was established in 1971 by the Royal College of Physicians following the refusal of the UK Government to act on the college's demand for laws to reduce tobacco use. Former health minister, John Dunwoody, became its first director. [5] Its present-day board of trustees reflects its continued support from the medical establishment as it is composed largely of doctors and scientists. [6]
ASH was awarded a WHO World No Tobacco Day Award in May 2011 [7] and the 2012 Luther L Terry Award for "Outstanding Organization" by the American Cancer Society in December 2011. [8]
Its current chief executive, appointed in 2003, is Deborah Arnott. She was appointed honorary associate professor in the Division of Epidemiology and Public Health University of Nottingham in 2011 and won the 2007 Alwyn Smith Prize awarded annually by the UK Faculty of Public Health to the person judged to have made the most outstanding contribution to the health of the public. [9]
ASH is a charity [3] describing itself as a "campaigning public health charity that works to eliminate the harm caused by tobacco".
Its funding for its core campaigning programme comes from the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and Cancer Research UK (CRUK). It has also received funding from the Department of Health under its Section 64 grant programme, which is earmarked for specific projects to further the department's public health objectives, and cannot be used to lobby the government. [2]
ASH uses funding from the BHF and CRUK to influence policy on a variety of issues including taxation and smuggling, health inequalities, harm reduction, and smoking and young people. It also works to raise awareness of the methods used by the tobacco industry to influence public health policies. [10] [11] ASH coordinates the Smokefree Action Coalition (SFAC), the umbrella group for organisations working to reduce the harm caused by tobacco, which was set up to campaign for comprehensive smoke-free legislation. [12]
In February 2006, ASH won its campaign for legislation which created comprehensive smoke-free indoor workplace regulation, introduced in England on 1 July 2007. [13] [14] The smoke-free regulations included all pubs, bars and private members' clubs, as well as cafés, restaurants, and enclosed workplaces. A similar smoke-free law had already come into force in Scotland in March 2006, [15] and Northern Ireland and Wales followed in April 2007. Campaigning after this point focussed on the need for a new government strategy on tobacco control.[ citation needed ]
In 2008, ten years after the publication of "Smoking Kills", a white paper on tobacco [16] and the first comprehensive strategy to tackle the issue, ASH published "Beyond Smoking Kills" which provided a review of progress on the control of tobacco. [17] The report called for a number of measures including a tobacco display ban, [18] [19] prohibition of the sale of tobacco from vending machines and standardised tobacco packaging. [20]
The Health Act 2009 provides for removal of vending machines for tobacco products (implemented in October 2011 [21] ) and for the prohibition of the display of tobacco products at the point of sale in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In March 2011, the Government committed to implement the point of sale legislation in England in large shops from April 2012 and in smaller shops from April 2015. [22] It also committed to a public consultation on standardised packaging in early 2012. ASH, and the SFAC, actively campaigned for the introduction of standardised packaging, which was included in the Children and Families Act 2014 [23] and was passed into law in March 2015. [24] The charity described it as the "most important public health reform of this Parliament." [25]
In 2015, ASH published "Smoking Still Kills" which called for a new government tobacco control strategy, and made a number of recommendations including an annual levy on tobacco companies to fund measures to help smokers quit and prevent youth uptake. [26] At the launch of the report, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Public Health Jane Ellison committed to a new tobacco control strategy. [27] Christopher Snowdon, a research fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs, which had received funding from tobacco firms, [28] noted the influence of the charity saying that the "manifesto of this tiny pressure group is, in effect, the manifesto of whichever party is in power." [29]
ASH is also a member of the World Health Organization's Framework Convention Alliance on Tobacco Control.
ASH covers the whole of the UK and encourages supporters to get involved in the organisation's work, or just lend financial support. ASH Northern Ireland, ASH Scotland and ASH Wales are separate organisations.[ citation needed ]
ASH Scotland is an independent Scottish charity which aims to take action to reduce the harm caused by tobacco. First founded under the auspices of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh in 1973, ASH Scotland became a wholly separate charity in 1993. [30] ASH Scotland was awarded a WHO World No Tobacco Day Award in 2018. [31]
The organisation seeks to improve health and quality of life by limiting the number of young people taking up smoking, reducing the number of adult smokers, protecting people from second-hand smoke and tackling the inequality resulting from tobacco use. This involves campaigning for change in the law, providing information to politicians, healthcare professionals and the public, and running programmes designed to help people be tobacco-free.[ citation needed ]
Following ASH Scotland campaigns, Scotland was the first part of the UK to introduce smoke-free public places legislation and the first part of the UK (and the third country globally) to declare a tobacco-free date (2034) as part of the Scottish Government's tobacco control strategy 'Creating a tobacco-free generation'. [32]
ASH Wales is a smoking cessation and health charity that began in 1976 as an autonomous branch of ASH UK, and later gained independent charity status in 2007. [33] Its aim is to reduce the prevalence of smoking across Wales by identifying and addressing influential factors, increasing public awareness, and improving the quality and reach of cessation services. [34] ASH Wales engages in a variety of projects including campaigning for tobacco-control public-health policy, research, training, educational workshops, advocacy, and support.[ citation needed ]
From 2012 onward ASH Wales campaigned for all 22 local authorities in Wales to introduce smoke-free policies in their children's playgrounds. To date, 20 out of 22 local authorities have implemented voluntary bans in their local playgrounds, with another currently in the process of implementing a ban. [35]
ASH Wales played an instrumental role in the Welsh Government's decision to enforce a ban on smoking in cars with children. [36] Smoking in a private vehicle when someone under the age of 18 is present became illegal in England and Wales on 1 October 2015.
The Filter is the youth project of ASH Wales which delivers quit smoking support and prevention for children and young people aged 11–25. [37] The Filter provides workshops and quit smoking programmes delivered by smoking cessation advisors.[ citation needed ]
The Filter Project was launched in 2013 as a result of funding from the Big Lottery Fund. [38] Since then The Filter has delivered its workshops and cessation support to more than 6,000 people across Wales. From 2015 The Filter became part of an Erasmus+ funded partnership bringing together organisations from five different EU countries with the aim of reducing tobacco consumption across all of the nations. [39] This partnership will examine the potential of The Filter to work on a transnational basis.
The Wales Tobacco or Health Network (WTHN) is a professional network led by ASH Wales for individuals in Wales with an interest in tobacco and its impact on public health. It focuses on smoking and tobacco control but also on wider issues of health and well being such as the links between wealth and health inequality. [40]
The network contains both individuals and organisations with members from many sectors, including academia, the tobacco control community, education, government, healthcare, local government, the media, the NHS, public health, and the private and voluntary sectors.[ citation needed ]
The Wales Tobacco Control Alliance (WTCA) is a network managed by ASH Wales to enable all third sector and professional organisations involved with tackling tobacco in Wales to inform and influence policy development and implementation. The WTCA came together to campaign for a comprehensive Tobacco Control Strategy for Wales and now work to monitor this plan and reduce the harm caused by tobacco use more generally. Since 2008 over 30 organisations have joined the WTCA. This includes other charities like Cancer Research UK, the British Heart Foundation, along with professional bodies such as the Royal College of Physicians and the British Medical Association.
Following a campaign by the WTCA the Welsh Government published its Tobacco Control Action Plan in February 2012 which set out a comprehensive strategy containing ambitions to reduce adult smoking prevalence to 16% by 2020. [41]
Founded in 1979, ASH is one of Canada's leading tobacco control organizations. [42]
In 1992, ASH Ireland was established by the Irish Heart Foundation and the Irish Cancer Society. [43]
In New Zealand, ASH was formed in 1983. [44] In 2011, the New Zealand Government set a target of making NZ smokefree by 2025. [45] It was a member of the anti-smoking organisation Smokefree Coalition.
Smoking bans, or smoke-free laws, are public policies, including criminal laws and occupational safety and health regulations, that prohibit tobacco smoking in certain spaces. The spaces most commonly affected by smoking bans are indoor workplaces and buildings open to the public such as restaurants, bars, office buildings, schools, retail stores, hospitals, libraries, transport facilities, and government buildings, in addition to public transport vehicles such as aircraft, buses, watercraft, and trains. However, laws may also prohibit smoking in outdoor areas such as parks, beaches, pedestrian plazas, college and hospital campuses, and within a certain distance from the entrance to a building, and in some cases, private vehicles and multi-unit residences.
FOREST is a United Kingdom smokers' rights group primarily funded by the tobacco industry which campaigns against what it sees as "excessive regulation" of smoking and tobacco products.
Nicotine marketing is the marketing of nicotine-containing products or use. Traditionally, the tobacco industry markets cigarette smoking, but it is increasingly marketing other products, such as electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products. Products are marketed through social media, stealth marketing, mass media, and sponsorship. Expenditures on nicotine marketing are in the tens of billions a year; in the US alone, spending was over US$1 million per hour in 2016; in 2003, per-capita marketing spending was $290 per adult smoker, or $45 per inhabitant. Nicotine marketing is increasingly regulated; some forms of nicotine advertising are banned in many countries. The World Health Organization recommends a complete tobacco advertising ban.
The Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Act 2005 is an Act of the Scottish Parliament passed in 2005, after being introduced by Scottish Executive Health minister Andy Kerr.
A smoking ban in England, making it illegal to smoke in all enclosed workplaces in England, came into force on 1 July 2007 as a consequence of the Health Act 2006. Similar bans had already been introduced by the rest of the United Kingdom: in Scotland on 26 March 2006, Wales on 2 April 2007 and Northern Ireland on 30 April 2007. Plain tobacco packaging and a smoking ban in cars with passengers under 18 were introduced under Children and Families Act 2014.
The use of tobacco for smoking in New Zealand has been subjected to government regulation for a number of decades. On 10 December 2004, New Zealand became the third country in the world to make all indoor workplaces including bars and restaurants smoke-free.
Tobacco control is a field of international public health science, policy and practice dedicated to addressing tobacco use and thereby reducing the morbidity and mortality it causes. Since most cigarettes and cigars and hookahs contain/use tobacco, tobacco control also concerns these. E-cigarettes do not contain tobacco itself, but (often) do contain nicotine. Tobacco control is a priority area for the World Health Organization (WHO), through the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. References to a tobacco control movement may have either positive or negative connotations, depending upon the commentator.
Smoking bans in private vehicles are enacted to protect passengers from secondhand smoke and to increase road traffic safety, e.g. by preventing the driver from being distracted by the act of smoking. Smoking bans in private vehicles are less common than bans extended to public transport or vehicles used during work, like trucks or police cars.
Smoking in China is prevalent, as the People's Republic of China is the world's largest consumer and producer of tobacco: there are 350 million Chinese smokers, and China produces 42% of the world's cigarettes. The China National Tobacco Corporation is by sales the largest single manufacturer of tobacco products in the world and boasts a monopoly in Mainland China generating between 7 and 10% of government revenue. Within the Chinese guanxi system, tobacco is still a ubiquitous gift acceptable on any occasion, particularly outside urban areas. Tobacco control exists as smoking bans, but public enforcement is rare outside the most highly internationalized cities, such as Shanghai and Beijing. Furthermore, outside the largest cities in China, smoking is considered socially acceptable anywhere at any time, even if it is technically illegal.
SmokinginCanada is banned in indoor public spaces, public transit facilities and workplaces, by all territories and provinces, and by the federal government. As of 2010, legislation banning smoking within each of these jurisdictions is mostly consistent, despite the separate development of legislation by each jurisdiction. Notable variations between the jurisdictions include: whether, and in what circumstances ventilated smoking rooms are permitted; whether, and up to what distance away from a building is smoking banned outside of a building; and, whether smoking is banned in private vehicles occupied by children.
In Finland, the smoking figures are among the lowest in Europe. There are several factors that have influenced the decrease in the smoking prevalence, such as legislative actions, health promotion and national monitoring systems, policies aimed at reducing tobacco consumption through public awareness campaigns, advertising bans and increased taxation. Ministry of Social Affairs and Health has the leading role in tobacco control in Finland, and one of their main aims is have a more effective ban on sale of tobacco products to children and young people and to prevent sale of illegal tobacco products. Among the key elements in the successful tobacco policy is the traditional collaboration between the health authorities and non-governmental organisations, and intensive health promotion.
Plain tobacco packaging, also known as generic, neutral, standardised or homogeneous packaging, is packaging of tobacco products, typically cigarettes, without any branding, including only the brand name in a mandated size, font and place on the pack, in addition to the health warnings and any other legally mandated information such as toxic constituents and tax-paid stamps. The appearance of all tobacco packs is standardised, including the colour of the pack.
Smoking in the United Kingdom involves the consumption of cigarettes and other forms of tobacco in the United Kingdom, as well as the history of the tobacco industry, together with government regulation and medical issues.
Tobacco-free college campuses are colleges and universities that have implemented policies prohibiting the use of tobacco products at all indoor and outdoor campus locations. Tobacco is known to be harmful to the health of smokers, bystanders, and the environment. Since this issue was first recognized, colleges have been creating policies for tobacco use on campus in an effort to improve health standards, provide more enjoyable campus conditions, and to reduce the negative environmental effects of tobacco.
The Oregon Indoor Clean Air Act, also known as the Smokefree Workplace Law, is a measure passed in 1981 by the US State of Oregon prohibiting smoking in public indoor places except in certain designated smoking areas. The objective is to protect non-smokers in confined areas from second-hand smoke. Beginning on January 1, 2016, the law was extended to cover "inhalant delivery systems" such as e-cigarettes.
The Smokefree Coalition was established as a national organisation in New Zealand in 1995 to advocate for tobacco control interventions by government and non-government organisations (NGOs). Its founding organisations were the National Heart Foundation of New Zealand, the Cancer Society of New Zealand, Action on Smoking and Health, Te Hotu Manawa Māori and the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation of New Zealand. It ceased operation on 30 June 2016.
Ian Willmore, is a British activist who played a leading role in defending the independence of the civil service in the 1980s. He also campaigned for legislation to ban smoking in public places and standardised packaging of tobacco products.
The Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Amendment Act 2022 is an Act of Parliament in the New Zealand Parliament that seeks to combat smoking by limiting the number of retailers allowed to sell smoked tobacco products; ban the sale of smoked tobacco products to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009; and to discourage the consumption of smoked tobacco products. The bill passed its third reading on 13 December 2022 and received royal assent on 16 December 2022.
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