Date: May 29, 2025
Time: 10 AM EDT / 2 PM GMT
Tobacco is one of the biggest public health threats we’ve ever faced. Since the adoption of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the implementation of better tobacco control policies saved lives, reduced healthcare costs and boosted the economy. Deemed a success, high-income countries (HICs) saw a decrease of over 1,000 cigarettes per adult annually after 2003. Unfortunately, the same success story has not occurred globally.
This isn’t a coincidence. Since the implementation of the FCTC, tobacco companies began using tactics to actively fight against the adoption of stronger regulations in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), while simultaneously also undermining public accountability through intimidation tactics, appealing to young people, smuggling, and tax avoidance. Challenges to treaty implementation also include the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and political conflict. To defeat the global tobacco epidemic, no country or region can be left behind.
Join us for a discussion ahead of World No Tobacco Day on the importance of global research on the tobacco epidemic: what has worked, what hasn’t, where knowledge gaps remain, and how policies can be strengthened to create a healthier, more equitable tobacco-free future.
Moderator: Dr. Mathieu Poirier, Director, Global Strategy Lab
Mathieu Poirier is the Director of the Global Strategy Lab, York Research Chair (Tier II) in Global Health Equity, and Assistant Professor of Social Epidemiology at the School of Global Health. His research ranges from evaluating international law to developing health equity metrics and generating policy-relevant research on socially and politically determined inequities in health.
Dr. Tina Nanyangwe-Moyo, Investigator, Global Strategy Lab
Dr. Nanyangwe-Moyo is an Investigator with the Global Legal Epidemiology research programme at GSL with expertise in advanced demographic and epidemiological research methods. Her research integrates analytical approaches in understanding the ways socioeconomic factors affect systems that have downstream impacts on population health. She leads team research projects and designs and executes interdisciplinary global health research studies.
Ouleymatou Diop, AFRO Regional Coordinator, Global Alliance for Tobacco Control
Ouleymatou Diop is the AFRO Regional Coordinator for the Global Alliance for Tobacco Control (GATC), a role she assumed after more than a decade of experience advancing global health initiatives. She brings a strong background in project management, strategic planning, compliance, and donor engagement, having led and supported impactful health programs across Africa. Ouleymatou is passionate about amplifying the voices of African civil society in global health governance. Through her work, she champions evidence-based tobacco control policies and strives to ensure regional priorities are reflected on the global stage.
Les Hagen, MSM, Executive Director, ASH Canada
Les Hagen is the Executive Director for Action on Smoking & Health Canada (ASH Canada) and he has been providing leadership on tobacco control in Canada and beyond for the past three decades. Les also serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Alberta School of Public Health. Recently, ASH led the development of the Global Tobacco Control Progress Hub to monitor implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The Progress Hub represents the world’s first open-access public health treaty surveillance platform and it has been used to help NGOs in over 35 countries with treaty reporting and implementation. Les served as the Official NGO Delegate for Canada in the 8th and 9th Conference of the Parties of the Framework Convention.