With 140 ratifications to the global tobacco treaty, activists around the world used the week of September 25, 2006 to mobilize support for protecting public health policy from tobacco industry interference. Non-governmental organizations in more than 20 countries led events as part of the 8th International Week of Resistance to Tobacco Transnationals (IWR 2006) organized by the Network for Accountability of Tobacco Transnationals (NATT).

The centerpiece to IWR 2006 was the International Release of the Global Tobacco Treaty Action Guide: Challenging Tobacco Industry Interference, produced by Corporate Accountability International and NATT. In press conferences, rallies and meetings with government decisionmakers, activists built support for the treaty's swift implementation and challenged attempts by the tobacco industry to interfere in health policy.

Here are a few stories:

India: Organizations across India banded together for a week-long series of events. Activists from organizations including: Indian Society Against Smoking, National Alliance of Peoples Movements, Asha, Tobacco Kills MONiTOR eForum, DailySouthAsian eForum and Abhinav Bharat Foundation came together for a one-day fast to draw attention to the global tobacco treaty. They did extensive outreach to the media through a press conference, one-on-one meetings with journalists and widespread distribution of the Global Tobacco Treaty Action Guide. The week culminated with activists delivering a memo to the Minister of Health urging the protection of health policy from tobacco industry interference.

West Africa: In actions across West Africa, organizations mobilized support for the global tobacco treaty during IWR. In Togo, public health, environmental and consumer organizations came together at a press conference to highlight the human toll of tobacco in Togo and the urgency of implementing the treaty. In Ghana, Action for Integrated Development joined other public health advocates to encourage the passage of Ghana's tobacco control bill and to reinforce the courageous work of government officials who have stood up to tobacco industry interference.

Indonesia: During the IWR, the National Commission for Child Protection, Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (IFPPD), Consumer Organization, Indonesian Psychologist Association, and FAKTA joined together to challenge the tobacco industry lobby in Parliament. Through media outreach and the delivery of petitions and the Global Tobacco Treaty Action Guide to key government decisionmakers, activists sent a strong message urging swift ratification and implementation of the treaty. 
 

Colombia: Activists in Colombia urged Congress members to swiftly ratify the global tobacco treaty in meetings with Senators during the IWR. During these meetings, activists encouraged the progress that Colombia is making toward treaty ratification and urged the importance of standing firm in the face of a powerful tobacco industry lobby. At the end of IWR, Corporate Accountability International's Latin America Coordinator, Yul Francisco Dorado, helped to unearth the details and to expose a recent beach vacation for members of Congress that was paid for by Protabaco, a Colombian tobacco corporation.

Download the Second Edition of the Global Tobacco Treaty Action Guide:

·  English Version (pdf)

·  French Version (pdf)

·  Spanish Version (pdf)

The Action Guide is a tool to help public health advocates, non-governmental organizations, government officials and concerned citizens stop the tobacco industry's attempts to use its money and influence to undermine ratification and implementation of the global tobacco treaty. It is a collection of first-hand stories about how tobacco transnationals, like British American Tobacco, Philip Morris/Altria and Japan Tobacco, are attempting to interfere with health policy and what government officials and NGOs are doing to expose and challenge this interference.

The First Edition of the Action Guide was released internationally last fall during IWR 2005 and was downloaded in three languages more than 4000 times! The enthusiastic response from people around the world was a testimony to the need for global collaboration to challenge attempts by international tobacco corporations to derail the tobacco treaty.

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