International Updates Archive

Harmful industries operate on a single financial calculation: privatize trillions in profit, and leave taxpayers to bear the fallout. 7 September 2026 By Mary Assunta and Cyresse Achilleos – Green Network For at least a

28 August 2026 By Respiratory Therapy The ERS is urging European countries to adopt “tobacco endgame” policies to permanently reduce tobacco use and end the epidemic. RT’s Three Key Takeaways: Endgame Strategies: The ERS supports

14 July 2026 By GST Between 2021 and 2023, several South Korean municipalities conducted experiments collecting and transforming cigarette butts into urban paving stones. Chemical analyses revealed the presence of carcinogenic substances in the resulting

6 August 2026 By European Medical Journal ENVIRONMENTAL tobacco smoke was associated with greater sleep fragmentation in children evaluated for suspected sleep-disordered breathing. Secondhand Smoke and Sleep Fragmentation Children exposed to environmental tobacco smoke had

9 August 2026 By Marie O’Halloran – The Irish Times Government considering ban for anyone born after certain date The Government is considering a ban on the sale of tobacco and nicotine-inhaling products to anyone

9 August 2026 By Mathew Robertson – CBC News New warning labels can help fight messages losing effectiveness over time, says advocate Canadian smokers have seen graphic warning labels on cigarette packaging for decades, but

7 August 2026 By Amanda Pampuro – Courthouse New Service A 1979 report advising companies on how to avoid liability under modern litter laws suggests tobacco manufacturers have known what happens to their product after

25 July 2026 By Fiona Sun – South China Morning Post Commissioner for Labour Sam Hui says authorities inspected about 530 construction sites during the first six days of the ban Hong Kong authorities issued

25 July 2026 By Julia Schneemann – Snow Brains One season after France introduced one of the world’s most sweeping anti-smoking policies for ski resorts, Spain is preparing to follow with a nationwide ban of

10 July 2026 By Breizh On July 9, 2026, six former health ministers published a joint declaration calling on the Government to support and pass the bill establishing a “Tobacco-free Generation”, carried out by Gironde

17 July 2026 By Cancer Council Australia Smoking has fallen to a historic low with new Australian Institute of Health and Welfare data showing just 5.6% of Australians 14+ were smoking daily last year. This

Guidelines call for companies to clearly state prohibited items, construction area covered by ban and any additional penalties for violations 16 July 2026 By Fiona Sun – South China Morning Post Hong Kong’s construction sector

9 July 2026 By Michele Goodwin The Trump administration has dismantled decades of bipartisan anti-smoking efforts, raising fears that preventable deaths and nicotine addiction will once again rise. In May, the federal Centers for Disease

17 July 2026 By Health Policy Institute of Ohio A coalition of public health groups sued the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday, seeking to block a new policy that could allow a wave of

A toxicologist says the agency’s failure to consider whether the pouch material could shed microplastics shows it’s not doing enough to protect public health. 14 July 2026 By Matthew Chapmanand and Kathryn Kranhold – The

6 July 2026 By The Globe and Mail The federal government made a forceful argument when it announced new restrictions to prevent youth vaping in 2021. Patty Hajdu, the minister of health at the time,

9 July 2026 By Big Island Now Hawai‘i Gov. Josh Green on July 7 signed into law complementary measures aimed at regulating tobacco use and mitigating its effects. Hawai‘i Senate Bill 2175, which became Act

13 July 2026 By WHO FCTC A new study published in Globalization and Health introduces the Policy Implementation Playbook (PIP), the first comprehensive taxonomy of tactics used by the tobacco industry after tobacco control policies

Ministers consider bringing e-cigarette laws in line with tobacco as data shows 20% of teenagers have tried vaping 10 July 2026 By Sarah Marsh – The Guardian Vapes could be sold in plain packaging as

22 July 2026 By Valerie R Whipps – Health Policy Watch The island country in the western Pacific Ocean has initiated a World Health Organization (WHO) review of nicotine in terms of the United Nations

25 June 2026 By Daniel Pye – Doctors.net.uk Doctors have backed a full ban on the advertising, promotion and sponsorship of electronic cigarettes and vapes as they constitute a “public health emergency”. Members of the

4 July 2026 By Ethiopia Today Addis Ababa (Ethiopia Today), July 4, 2026: The Addis Ababa Food and Drug Authority has officially increased the mandatory tobacco-free zone around schools to 500 meters. This major public

7 July 2026 By WHO Protection from tobacco smoke is at the core of a new declaration adopted by the health ministers of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. Backed by WHO/Europe,

These stale-smelling rooms remain strange holdouts in a world growing more hostile to cigarettes. 2 July 2026 By Morgan Meaker – Bloomberg When promoting his album Racine Carrée, Belgian singer Stromae spoke about the unsettling

25 June 2026 By Taiwan News Draft law imposes up to 7 years in prison for e-cigarette manufacturing, importation TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Cabinet approved draft amendments to the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act on

27 June 2026 By Charity Kilei – The Eastleigh Voice Health experts warn that while vaping is often marketed as a lower‑risk alternative to smoking, growing evidence continues to link it to nicotine addiction and

21 June 2026 By Nam Yun-jung – Seoul Economic Daily Many nonsmokers complain of discomfort from cigarette smoke on the streets. The trend of expanding no-smoking zones into outdoor spaces and imposing fines for violations

21 June 2026 By The Guardian The UN is set to review the legal status of nicotine. An outright ban would go too far, but there is no case for its easy availability he health

15 June 2026 Study finds exposure can lead to 1.5 times more of the toxic metal in the blood than for those in smoke-free environments. By Peer-Reviewed Publication TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY A new study finds that adults

10 June 2026 By Reuters ROME, June 10 (Reuters) – Italy’s competition authority on Wednesday slapped a €7 ​million ($8.1 million) fine on Philip Morris’ Italian unit over allegedly ‌misleading marketing for non-combustion tobacco products.

China has already fully banned smoking on high-speed electric multiple unit, or EMU, trains — fast, modern services that carry nearly three-quarters of the country’s rail passengers, according to transport authorities. 3 June 2026 By

16 June 2026 By Newsroom Avillage in western Türkiye is drawing attention for a nearly century-old anti-smoking tradition and a social life built around smoke-free community rooms rather than coffeehouses. Tazlar, a village in the

Existing global efforts to reduce harms caused by smoking have targeted tobacco smoking, but vapes containing nicotine are also harmful. 17 June 2026 By Rachel Fieldhouse – Nature  The Republic of Palau has already banned

7 June 2026 By Muguel A. Melendez – Men’s Journal If the bill passes, it could go into effect in January 2028. The war against smoking in the United States has been going on for

5 June 2026 By JAMA The World Health Organization (WHO) has published its first report dedicated to nicotine pouches, aiming to help countries understand marketing tactics and implement effective regulation. Although the tobacco-free sachets may

8 June 2026 By Zoe Hardy – Daily Mail Despite being positioned as a tool for quitting smoking, swapping cigarettes for vapes may not significantly reduce the risk of lung cancer, new research suggests. Health

10 June 2026 By TT News Agency – Sweden Herald The Italian subsidiary of American tobacco giant Philip Morris has been fined €7 million after being found to have misled Italian consumers about the health

24 May 2026 By Bangladesh Post PROGGA, ATMA urge tougher action against e-cigarettes and higher tobacco taxes A delegation from research and advocacy organisation PROGGA and the Anti-Tobacco Media Alliance (ATMA) on Sunday praised the

4 May 2026 By Tom McIlroy – The Guardian A Senate committee considering the illegal tobacco trade in Australia hears closed-session evidence from cigarette manufacturers Anti-smoking campaigners have accused the Coalition of secretly giving tobacco

17 May 2026 By Krishani Dhanji and Tom McIlroy – The Guardian Big tobacco is exploiting fears of the illicit market to unwind longstanding health policies, leading health campaigners have warned, amid a parliamentary inquiry

11 May 2026 By Ashima Sharda Mahindra – Times Now News Doctors warn smoking is linked to 15 cancers beyond Lung cancer, silently harming organs throughout the body over time. For many people, smoking is

9 May 2026 By The Japan Times OSAKA – Despite being heavily restricted, an increasing number of young people in Japan are using nicotine-vaping devices known in Japanese as “nicopuff.” The e-cigarettes, which heat nicotine-containing scented

30 April 2026 By Barry R Davis – Business Day Seventy-six years after the evidence came in, the US and other countries still will not act on what we know In August 2002, an 89-year-old

Research highlights higher cardiovascular danger and mortality, urging smoking cessation to be treated as a core part of diabetes care. 26 April 2026 By Team TNIE NEW DELHI: Smoking among people living with type 2 diabetes

26 April 2026 By rthk A large-scale publicity campaign is underway to remind tourists about an upcoming ban on alternative smoking products, a health officials said on Sunday. From April 30, the possession or use

22 April 2026 By Michelle Roberts – BBC Children aged 17 or younger will face a lifelong ban on buying cigarettes, as the Tobacco and Vapes Bill clears Parliament. Both the Commons and Lords have

19 April 2026 by Marie Helweg-Larsen – The Conversation Smoking is really bad for you. Most people know that. Even smokers think smoking is bad for one’s health. But most people don’t know just how