Co-signing organisations:

Comité National Contre le Tabagisme, European Cancer Patient Coalition, Fiji Cancer Society, Global Bridges, Healis Sekhsaria Institute of Public Health, Indian Cancer Society- Delhi, International Alliance of Women, Japan Health Care Dental Association, Japan Society for Tobacco Control, Japanese Society of Cancer Nursing, OxySuisse, Pratyasha Anti-drugs Club, PROGGA, Public Health Law Center, Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance, Society for Oral Cancer and Health, Swarna Hansa Foundation, Tobacco-Free Advocacy Japan, Tobacco - Free Association of Zambia, Policy Research for Development Alternatives

Editorial Note:

ASH US has been working with partners around the world to use human rights measures to advance tobacco control. While the WHO FCTC does not have a robust reporting and enforcement mechanism, many human rights treaties do, and often, the subject matter of those treaties overlaps with the goals of tobacco control. For example, ASH US and partners recently submitted a report on tobacco and its negative impact on the rights of women and girls in Japan to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). This committee can use that report to question the Japanese government and encourage them take steps to better protect their citizens from tobacco. If the government fails to protect their citizens from the tobacco industry, they will fail to live up to their obligations under international human rights law.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are strictly those of the author(s).