CALL TO ACTION
** Read our joint Prevent20 Statement of Purpose at the end of this newsletter and show your support by signing here before December 31st! **
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We have renewed consensus on our collaboration – let’s put it into action!
Dear Friend,
After taking all your feedback into account – including the Prevent20 session at the World Cancer Congress – we have now finalized the Prevent20 Statement of Purpose, which sets out how our global coalition will work together to achieve our shared objectives.
We’re delighted that you continue to value the coalition, the way we aim to make technical information more accessible, and the tools we’re developing to help coalition members better understand, communicate and champion this issue.
We noted the gaps you’ve identified. You’d like more support on issues like taxation of smokeless tobacco products, enabling cancer victims to help make the case for tobacco taxes, and countering the tobacco industry. We are working to respond to these specific issues and provide more tools and resources.
In 2019, we’ll launch a series of webinars to help increase the knowledge and skills of existing and new members, and we’ll facilitate new opportunities for members to discuss their experiences and learn from each other.
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"As the Bangladesh Cancer Society and partners work together to support the simplification of the country’s complex tax structure, we champion the activities of Prevent20 and look forward to the new content and tools that will help us in this important work." - Dr. Golam Faruque, Bangladesh Cancer Society
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It’s clear that we have a greater impact when all members of the coalition are active partners in this work. We hope the Statement of Purpose – linked above and included at the end of this newsletter – enables us to think and to act in a more collective way over the coming months and years, with Prevent20 an integral part of your efforts.
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"I’m excited about what cancer organisations can achieve if we work together and if we work with stakeholders beyond our comfort zone. There’s huge value in having a common message and approach, and the Prevent 20 coalition provides a platform to share ideas and strategize together." - Laura Hucks, Cancer Research UK
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As always, please get in touch if you would like data or technical assistance to support you in your efforts to increase tobacco taxes in your country. You can contact our team at prevent20@cancer.org
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Ukraine makes further progress on tobacco taxes
It’s estimated that nearly half of Ukraine’s men and 15% of women used tobacco daily in 2015. In recent years, Ukraine’s government has implemented a series of tobacco control policies to reduce this burden. A year ago, it passed an eight-year plan to implement a 20 percent increase in excise tax, each year, on every tobacco product. On November 23rd 2018, the government passed an additional 9% increase in the excise tax on tobacco products, which comes into force from July 1st 2019. This will have a positive impact on reducing tobacco use over the coming years.
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Smoke Free Partnership brings fresh evidence and data to support tobacco taxation
On November 7th Smoke Free Partnership published a new Position Paper on tobacco taxation. The paper notes the importance of tobacco taxes to the commitment by the EU and its members states to reduce tobacco use by 30% 2025 and the benefits of converging high prices across EU member states - including price differences between cigarettes and tobacco for roll-your-own cigarettes. Based on the Prevent20 model, a new position paper estimates that higher tobacco taxes amongst EU member countries will save 18.5 million people from tobacco.
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The Tobacco Atlas, now available in Spanish
Prevent20 members in Spanish-speaking countries can now access the Spanish language version of The Tobacco Atlas, Sixth Edition at http://es.tobaccoatlas.org. The Atlas covers critical issues including the burden of tobacco and the importance of tobacco taxation and includes country profiles with key data. Please use this resource to support tobacco control efforts in your country.
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Prevent20 Statement of Purpose
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In recognition of the fact that more than 20% of cancer deaths are attributable to tobacco use and can be prevented, and that high tobacco taxes are the single most effective way of reducing tobacco use, the global cancer community formed the Prevent20 coalition with a singular purpose: to call on all governments to implement high tobacco taxes to prevent cancer.
Understanding how underused this critical prevention intervention has been to date, cancer organizations and like-minded civil society partners have joined together with the purpose of taking a lead role in championing effective tobacco taxation to prevent cancer and other NCDs.
Through ongoing outreach and discussions, members have started to explore how best we can leverage our community to increase tobacco taxation. The following areas have been highlighted by Prevent20 members as priority actions for the coalition to support both collective engagement in advocacy at the global level, and more targeted sensitization and demand generation at the national level.
At the international level, Prevent20 members agree to:
• Develop common objectives and messages to advance tobacco taxation goals at major international events such as the World Cancer Leaders’ Summit, World Cancer Congress, UN High Level Meeting on NCDs, and the WHO Conference of the Parties for the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (COP).
• Develop and implement a coordinating body and tools for Prevent20 members to support tobacco taxation efforts in other countries when international engagement is appropriate and requested by members.
At the national level, Prevent20 members agree to:
• Develop and use common messaging to sensitize key public officials, community influencers, and the public on the benefits of effective tobacco tax policy, coordinating and collaborating with all appropriate civil society and government actors working on the issue.
• Develop and implement a coordinating body and tools for peer exchange among Prevent20 members to address common country-level challenges and share best practices.
To operationalize the above, Prevent20 Coalition members agree to participate in one or more interactive working groups with annual workplans and timelines to achieve planned objectives and desired outcomes.
We, the undersigned, agree with the core values and actions expressed above to guide our work together, speak with a unified voice, and achieve our collective goal to prevent 20% of cancer deaths worldwide.
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