About Us
- Learn more about the global tobacco problem.
- Learn more about effective measures to reduce tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke, such as tobacco tax increases, bans on tobacco advertising, smoke-free environments and large, graphic health warnings.
What is the International Resource Center?
The International Resource Center is an online clearinghouse of resources for tobacco control advocates worldwide and is part of the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use.
This initiative, funded by philanthropist and New York City mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, aims to reduce tobacco use in low and middle-income countries, where more than two-thirds of the world’s smokers live.
The International Resource Center is managed by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
Why is tobacco control a global priority?
Tobacco kills almost 14,000 people every day. Unless urgent action is taken, tobacco will kill 10 million people a year by 2020, 70 percent of them in developing countries.
The good news is that the scientific and medical communities in many countries have identified cost-effective tobacco control measures that significantly reduce tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke.
These measures save lives, improve health and reduce health care expenditures. If adult cigarette consumption is cut in half worldwide, we can prevent more than 300 million deaths from tobacco in the next 50 years.