The Emerging Human Right to Tobacco Control

Abstract

The economic and public health impacts of tobacco use, which kills approximately 5 million people per year and is expected to kill 10 million, mainly poor, people in 2030, are well known. Less attention has been paid to the impact of this epidemic on human rights and the potential application of a human rights perspective to tobacco control. This article examines the emerging human right to tobacco control in relation to other efforts to reduce the death and disability resulting from the activities of the tobacco industry, such as the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, and suggests ways of implementing human rights mechanisms to address this public health disaster.