The Centre of Research Excellence on Achieving the Tobacco Endgame is honored to join Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) and a total of 208 signatories from 61 countries in calling on the UN Committee on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) to maintain and strengthen its mention of the harms of tobacco in the Draft General Recommendation n°37 on Racial Discrimination in the enjoyment of the right to health.
The existing Draft recommendation is already an historic first for the tobacco control community, serving as a firm acknowledgement of the fact that the tobacco epidemic worsens public health disparities.
Read Draft 1 of the CERD General Recommendation 37 >
A strong General Recommendation from CERD is essential because the UN human rights treaty has been ratified by 182 countries, meaning those countries have a legal obligation to fulfill the requirements of CERD. General Recommendation 37 will be a global legal recommendation to strengthen tobacco control at the national level.
“Securing support from 208 prestigious organizations from around the world solidifies the importance of including the harms caused by tobacco in the protections provided by human rights treaty mechanisms,” said Kelsey Romeo-Stuppy, Managing Attorney at Action on Smoking and Health, the organization that initiated the submission. “We are hopeful that the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) will be convinced of the need to further include tobacco in its recommendations on Racism and the Right to Health.”
Signatory organizations include academic institutions, legal centers, and public health advocacy organizations who are united in their agreement that the tobacco epidemic impacts global citizens’ enjoyment of their basic human rights, such as their right to health.
Tobacco products are the leading cause of preventable death, worldwide. Countries must act quickly to strengthen their tobacco control policies to protect their citizens’ right to health.
