2019 began auspiciously, with a sense that the end of smoking might finally be on the horizon. This ambience of optimism, however, was short-lived. Instead of progress, 2019 brought a series of setbacks, schisms, and squandered opportunities to improve global health. Still, I remain hopeful that 2020 can be different. Over the past year, the […]

The Foundation’s Tobacco Transformation Index (the “Index”) will provide quantifiable evidence over time of the steps the largest tobacco companies are taking to achieve a world free of combustible cigarettes and other high-risk tobacco products and actions they take to impede that progress. Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Stopping Tobacco Organizations and Products (STOP) supports the Global Tobacco […]

Smoking is a major behavioral risk factor common to all four major noncommunicable diseases (NCDs)—namely, cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory diseases. Approximately 80% of the world’s 1.1 billion smokers live in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs); and NCDs are estimated to cause more than two-thirds of all deaths in developing countries. This […]

When people quit smoking, health and life insurers save money. The insurance sector therefore has a unique opportunity to save lives while boosting profits, an alignment of interests called shared value. The global insurance industry can, in fact, play a key role in the fight to end smoking. Too often, however, this role is overlooked. […]

Many experts are quick to point out that the agriculture sector in Malawi faces challenges. At a time when global population is rising rapidly and the adoption of modern diets is increasing swiftly, experts project that the demand for food will double over the next three decades—and that food production is unlikely to keep pace. […]