SEATCA Press Release

Bangkok, December 1, 2021: The COVID-19 pandemic did not stop the tobacco industry from interfering in government efforts to protect public health. No country was spared from the meddling; yet tools available to governments to protect their health policies remain largely underutilized. These are the main findings of the latest Asian Tobacco Industry Interference Index …

Tobacco industry meddling in Asia’s efforts to protect health during COVID-19 pandemic Read More »

(Bangkok, 11 Nov 2021) The Cigarette Package Health Warnings: International Status Report, released by the Canadian Cancer Society on 9 November, shows all 10 ASEAN countries are among the 134 out of 206 countries and jurisdictions across the world that now require pictorial health warnings on cigarette packaging, covering 70% of the world’s population. There …

New global report recognizes pictorial health warnings and standardized tobacco packaging in ASEAN Read More »

9 November, Bangkok: At the end of Day 1 of the Ninth Conference of Parties (COP9) to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the Philippine delegation merited the infamous Dirty Ashtray for multiple statements insisting on unhelpful language that has severely delayed adoption of the COP9 agenda and is obstructing the work ahead. …

Philippine delegation earns second Dirty Ashtray award for supporting tobacco industry interests at global tobacco control treaty negotiations Read More »

(20 October, Bangkok) The Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA) congratulates Myanmar for mandating standardized packaging for tobacco products, becoming the third Asian country after Thailand and Singapore to adopt this life-saving measure. The Ministry of Health issued the Standardized Packaging Notification on 12 October 2021. The new Notification requires that all outer surfaces of …

Myanmar is third Asian country requiring standardized packaging for tobacco products Read More »

23 July 2021 Press Statement The Southeast Asian nations of Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, and Vietnam could have prevented more than 1.3 million premature deaths from tobacco use and collected more than USD 4.81 billion in tax revenue if they had implemented effective tobacco tax measures. This finding is from the latest report, Lost Funds: A …

Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, and Vietnam could have collected USD 4.81 billion in tax revenue with more effective tobacco tax measures Read More »

(14 June 2021, Bangkok) SEATCA calls out the fake charity that the tobacco industry displayed in the Philippines when it donated respirators at the height of the pandemic. The Department of Health received about 400 respirators from the Temasek Foundation, 30 of which were from a private company with ties to the tobacco industry. Pursuant …

SEATCA calls out ironic tobacco industry donation of respirators to Philippines’ Department of Health Read More »

(25 May 2021, Bangkok) As over 140 organizations around the world today called for phasing out cigarette sales, the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA) reiterates that a phase-out of cigarette sales is the bare minimum that governments should do to fight and end the tobacco pandemic that kills 8 million people globally each year. …

SEATCA renews call for tobacco endgame as part of COVID-19 recovery Read More »

Press Statement: 19 MAY 2021 Based on the 2021 edition of the Tobacco Tax Index—an appraisal by the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA) of the ASEAN region’s application of tobacco tax measures – ASEAN governments should strengthen and accelerate implementation of tobacco tax policies to continually reduce tobacco use. The report was launched during …

Tobacco Tax Index 2021 says ASEAN region making slow progress in tobacco tax efforts Read More »