SEATCA Press Release

12 April 2022, Bangkok: As per its Ministry of Health directive issued last 12 October 2021, Myanmar was set to implement standardized tobacco packaging after 180 days or by 10 April 2022, followed by a 90-day phaseout of old tobacco packaging. However, transnational, and local cigarette and cheroot producers successfully lobbied for the implementation deadline …

Myanmar government bows to industry pressure, delays implementation of standardized tobacco packaging by 12 months Read More »

Press Statement by the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA) 23 February 2022, Bangkok: Tobacco kills 500,000 people each year in the ASEAN alone, and governments need to urgently accelerate their tobacco control efforts, especially in the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic, says the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance. According to the 2021 FCTC …

PASS or FAIL: ASEAN countries called to step up protection of public health  Read More »

(Bangkok, December 14, 2021): Doctors and health groups in the Philippines decried the Philippine Senate’s approval of Senate Bill 2239 (Vape Bill) on third and final reading despite firm and repeated protests from the health sector and public interest lawyers and youth groups. Existing laws (Republic Act (RA) 11346 and RA 11467) to regulate electronic …

Philippine youth in danger as Senate rolls back minimum age on electronic smoking devices Read More »

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 »