With one death from smoking every six seconds, smoking is one of the world’s largest and most urgent public health problems. So when my tobacco control colleagues Amy Fairchild, Ray Niaura and David Abrams wrote in The Hill this week that America needs a candid smoking control champion, I couldn’t agree more.

We need someone – ideally, as they write, a leading health official – to correct the spread of misinformation about smoking alternatives, speak for the many smokers who struggle to quit, and demand new and more effective smoking cessation methods.

But even better than one champion would be many champions, collaborating on a global scale to spark candid dialogue, form new partnerships and inspire innovative ideas in an atmosphere of inclusion, respect and openness to new views. This is how true progress will be achieved in reducing death and disease from cigarettes.

I encourage you to read the article by Fairchild, Niaura and Abrams at this link, share it with others, and consider how you can be a candid champion of smoking control where you live. At the Foundation, we are committed to working with individuals and groups seeking to accelerate an end to smoking. The lives of one billion smokers are at stake.