Due to a reform of taxes on tobacco and alcohol products passed in 2012, the Philippines have been able to significantly increase their health budget, allowing them to improve the reach of the country's Universal Health Care Program. Within four years, the coverage increased from 74% to 82%.
The so-called sin tax applies to all alcohol and tobacco products and serves a twofold purpose:
The Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance and WHO, marked World No-Tobacco Day 2015 by holding a National multi-sectoral consultation on the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products. The participants discussed ways to improve India's policies in line with the Protocol and to speed up its ratification.
Bangladeshi State Minister of Health, Zahid Malik, has announced that pictorial health warnings covering 50% of the principal sides of cigarette packages will become mandatory in the South Asian country. The requirements were gazetted March 19, 2015, and will come into force after a 12 month transition period in March 2016.
In a media briefing on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day 2015, the State Minister also announced that the sale of single cigarettes as well as unpacked chewing tobacco products will be prohibited.
With effect from 1 June 2015, health warnings on cigarette packages in Sri Lanka have to cover 80% of the principal sides.
Sri Lanka had previously required an 80% warning size. The tobacco industry took this to court, with the court concluding that a requirement for an 80% size was not authorized by the parent legislation, the National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol Act. The court indicated that a 60% size would be acceptable.
On 29 May, the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova adopted a new tobacco control law, after more than one year of parliamentary debate.
On 29 May 2015, the Prime Minister of Timor-Leste, Dr. Rui Maria de Araújo opened the National Advocacy Workshop to celebrate World No Tobacco Day 2015. Ministers, Parliamentarians and representatives from UN agencies attended the event which was organized by the Ministry of Health and the Cabinet of the Prime Minister, with support from the World Health Organization.
The WHO Regional Office for Africa and the McCabe Centre for Law and Cancer, a WHO FCTC Knowledge Hub on tobacco and trade matters, jointly conducted a capacity building working on promoting coherence between health, trade and investment in the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases in the East African Region. The workshop, held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 25-28 May, brought together participants from across different sectors of government in Burundi, Kenya and Tanzania, and faculty from Australia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.
The Quebec Superior Court awarded $15.5 billion (US$ 1.5 billion) in a landmark class action suit against three big tobacco companies. Following a 17 year lawsuit and 3 years after the beginning of the trial, Quebec Superior Court Justice Brian Riordan's 276 page decision was published on 27 May 2015.
In the context of the 68th World Health Assembly in Geneva, the delegations of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Thailand organized a side event addressing strategies to overcome resistance from the tobacco industry's side against pictorial warning messages on tobacco products. The event, that took place on 25 May 2015, was chaired by Dr D.M.R.B. Dissanayake and moderated by Dr Neelamani Rajappaksa Hewageegana, both representing of the Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medicine of Sri Lanka.
The Eastern Canadian province of Nova Scotia has passed legislation banning most flavoured tobacco products. The bill, introduced by Health Minister Leo Glavine, passed the third reading in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly on 28 April 2015. It adds to legislation passed in autumn 2014 that banned use of e-cigarettes in public places and restricted display and advertisement. Both measures will come into effect on 31 May 2015.