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In response to the need for stable and adequate funding for tobacco control and the shortage of personnel working in the field, the Vietnam Tobacco Control Fund (VNTCF) was established through the Law on Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harms in 2012. In September 2014, VNTCF awarded its first set of grants. Built on the local evidence-based context and needs as well as lessons learnt from other countries, VNTCF adapted best practices with adjustments that fit the country’s political, economic and social environment. The key strengths of the VNTCF are the evidence-based model; multisectoral management; clearly dedicated funding mechanism, defined vision, objectives and function; outcomes based mechanism and a multisectoral approach to releasing grants. Although several challenges remain such as insufficient human resources to undertake the workload, complex and cumbersome administrative processes, and limited capacity for tobacco control in the country, VNTCF has achieved several successes. The establishment of VNTCF in Vietnam is a critical milestone within the country’s fight against the tobacco epidemic. It showed not only the commitment of the local authorities to the fight but also their determination to ensure sustainable funding for tobacco control activities in Vietnam. Analysing VNTCF’s critical success elements, key strengths and challenges is helpful for other countries which want to establish or modify a tobacco control fund.
In the USA, legal definitions of cigarettes and cigars are critical to tobacco control policy because federal, state and local laws typically tax and regulate cigarettes more strictly than cigars. In 2016, near the end of the Obama Administration, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sent warning letters to four filtered ‘little cigar’ manufacturers stating that their so-called ‘cigars’ were cigarettes and, therefore, subject to more stringent public health restrictions. Documents produced in response to a Freedom of Information Act request show that without explanation or public notice FDA has abandoned its prior determination that the manufacturers’ ‘little cigars’ were actually cigarettes and, consequently, were violating the ban on flavoured cigarettes in the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (TCA). The documents also present the manufacturers’ arguments against FDA’s original position. However, those industry arguments are inconsistent with the research, other evidence and legal analysis indicating that filtered ‘little cigars’ meet the legal definition of cigarettes under the TCA and other similar federal, state and local definitions. To protect the public health, FDA must renew its efforts to ensure that these filtered ‘little cigars’ do not continue to evade compliance with the many important restrictions and requirements that apply to cigarettes but not cigars. Other government regulatory and tax-collection agencies with similar definitions need to follow suit.
There is a growing literature on regulating the supply of tobacco products to achieve tobacco-free goals. This article suggests three goals and eight principles that could underpin regulatory approaches to the supply of tobacco and non-prescription nicotine products. The primary principles are that tobacco and nicotine products should not be seen as normal consumer products, should not be supplied for profit, and that the tax revenue from the supply of the products should first be used to reduce tobacco and nicotine use.