<\/p>\n
Bloomberg\u2019s influence on WHO, Vital Strategies blocks tobacco harm reduction: A Global Reproach
\nDr. Ziauddin Islam and Lindsey Stroud
\nLast year The World Health Organization\u2019s (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) celebrated the 20th anniversary of the world\u2019s first public health treaty. Ratified in 2005, the FCTC now includes 183 countries and the European Union and was designed to reduce tobacco use. However, over time, it has evolved into a vehicle for Michael R. Bloomberg\u2019s prohibitionist agenda, implemented under the banner of philanthropy. The FCTC relies heavily on the MPOWER strategy, a WHO initiative pushed and funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies. It emphasizes taxation, advertising bans, and smoking restrictions, while disregarding tobacco harm reduction and consumer-driven innovations \u2013 such as e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products (HTPs), and nicotine pouches \u2013 that have led to notable smoking declines in several countries but face growing restrictions elsewhere.
\nSince 2005, Bloomberg Philanthropies has poured over $1.58 billion into global tobacco control, funding organizations like the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (CTFK) the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, which currently work as Vital Strategies. These groups champion MPOWER strategies and aggressively oppose harm-reduction alternatives that help smokers transition away from combustible tobacco.
\nThis stance reveals a troubling inconsistency. While Vital Strategies promotes harm reduction in drug policy \u2013 investing in naloxone, safe consumption sites, and drug-checking tools \u2013 it lobbies to ban harm-reduction tools for tobacco. Backed by Bloomberg\u2019s funding, the group spends up to $15 million annually pushing such bans in countries like India, Mexico, and the Philippines. For example, in India, Bloomberg-backed groups helped secure a 2019 e-cigarette ban, ignoring evidence from places like the UK and Japan where such products contributed to dramatic declines in smoking.
\nThis double standard undermines the credibility of public health advocacy. It embraces harm reduction for drug policy while rejecting it for tobacco\u2014a contradiction driven more by ideology and donor influence than by science. Evidence from countries like Sweden and Japanshows that harm reduction works. Sweden\u2019s widespread use of snus has helped drive smoking rates below 5 percent. In Japan, HTPs have contributed to a 40 percent decline in cigarette sales. In the U.S., increased e-cigarette use has paralleled steep declines in smoking, yet Bloomberg-funded groups continue to push for flavor bans, ignoring CDC data showing youth vaping rates are at historic lows.
\nThe impact of Bloomberg\u2019s policies is especially harmful in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where smoking rates are high, and enforcement resources are limited. In Pakistan, Bloomberg-funded advocates pushed for a 154 percent tobacco tax hike in 2023. Rather than curbing smoking, it fueled a 44 percent increase in illicit trade, costing the government revenue while legal cigarette sales plummeted and smoking rates stayed largely the same. Even a Bloomberg-funded study confirmed the surge in illicit trade.
\nInconsistencies also mark Bloomberg-backed efforts around HTPs and vaping. CTFK, through its partner SPARC, challenged Pakistan\u2019s regulatory approach to HTPs in court \u2013 mirroring their efforts to ban vaping in India \u2013 only to withdraw the case in 2025 without scientific explanation. This reversal came even as CTFK continued pushing bans in Mexico and Brazil, highlighting a lack of coherent, evidence-based strategy. In Pakistan, the flip-flop reflected more of an ideological shift than a thoughtful policy recalibration.
\nIn South Asia, Bloomberg-funded groups often overlook local tobacco use patterns, such as smokeless tobacco (SLT) and bidis. In India, while advocating for cigarette tax hikes, they largely ignored SLT, which comprises a major share of tobacco consumption. India\u2019s 2019 e-cigarette ban \u2013 supported by Bloomberg groups \u2013 drove many users back to cigarettes or the illicit market. High taxation, another MPOWER pillar, has produced similar results in Bangladesh and India, where tobacco use remains persistently high, at 34.6 percent and 19.1 percent, respectively.
\nBloomberg\u2019s policies fail to account for informal economies, poverty, and weak enforcement. In Pakistan, a previously tiered tax system helped keep legal tobacco somewhat affordable. The abrupt hike disrupted this balance, driving consumers to illicit products\u2014a pattern seen globally where high taxes aren\u2019t matched by anti-smuggling efforts.
\nEven high-income countries have suffered unintended consequences from Bloomberg\u2019s policies. In 2020, Massachusetts banned flavored tobacco and vapor products, leading to a 22 percent drop in cigarette tax revenue and a 73 percent increase in spending to combat illegal sales. San Francisco\u2019s flavor ban contributed to an uptick in youth smoking \u2013 a stark contrast to its intended outcome.
\nWhile reducing tobacco use is essential, Bloomberg-backed strategies often fail to consider local contexts, neglect harm reduction, and exacerbate illicit trade. Moving forward, the FCTC and Bloomberg-affiliated organizations must prioritize balanced, science-based policies. These should include support for harm-reduction alternatives, pragmatic tax structures, and culturally and economically informed local strategies.
\nGlobal tobacco control must be adaptable, evidence-driven, and realistic. To regain its credibility, the FCTC must stop forcing Parties to bow to Bloomberg\u2019s dogma.<\/p>\n
Dr. Ziauddin Islam, the former National Focal Person for the FCTC from Pakistan, is a renowned tobacco control expert who advocates for evidence-based harm reduction strategies. Lindsey Stroud is tobacco harm reduction advocate based in Florida, and creator and manager of Tobacco Harm Reduction 101. Originally published at The Opinion Pages.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bloomberg\u2019s influence on WHO, Vital Strategies blocks tobacco harm reduction: A Global Reproach Dr. Ziauddin Islam and Lindsey Stroud Last year The World Health Organization\u2019s (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) celebrated the 20th anniversary of the world\u2019s first public health treaty. Ratified in 2005, the FCTC now includes 183 countries and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[207],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinematicuniversal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinematicuniversal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinematicuniversal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinematicuniversal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinematicuniversal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21518"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cinematicuniversal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21518\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21519,"href":"https:\/\/cinematicuniversal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21518\/revisions\/21519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinematicuniversal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinematicuniversal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinematicuniversal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}