Tobacco control
Unless urgent action is taken, tobacco will kill as many as 1 billion people this century, making it the greatest single source of preventable death and disease.
About our tobacco control work
As part of their work with the Partnership for Healthy Cities, urban centers are strengthening tobacco control measures through three intervention areas:
Creating a smoke-free city: Introducing, passing and enforcing legislation and regulations to make all indoor public places, workplaces and public transport 100% smoke-free
Banning tobacco advertising: Introducing, passing and enforcing legislation and regulations establishing comprehensive bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, including a ban on display at the point-of-sale
Raising tobacco taxes or levies/fees: Increase excise taxes and prices on tobacco products; or increase subnational tobacco tax revenue.
City activities
Read more about our cities working on tobacco control around the world:
In 2017, Amman, Jordan—where 70% of male residents count themselves as smokers—joined Partnership for Healthy Cities with the goal of enforcing local regulation around smoking in public spaces and raising awareness about tobacco’s harmful effects. Learn more about how the city is combating smoking by implementing public health laws.
each year 8 million NCD deaths are linked to tobacco use globally.
In 2020, almost a quarter of the world’s population used tobacco.
Explore further
The ninth WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic tracks the progress made by countries in tobacco control since 2008.
Read more about Vital Strategies' tobacco control work and explore recent campaigns.
Bengaluru was awarded a Partnership for Healthy Cities Award at the network's inaugural Summit held in London in March 2023.