Ending Smoking in Our Communities

Global Action promotes healthy communities across the world. Smoking continues to be the leading cause of preventable death worldwide but burdens some communities more than others.

Global Action supports all adults who smoke in their efforts to quit across all geographies.

As part of our charitable mission to increase the impact of smoking cessation strategies on public health around the world we support work designed to reduce smoking in the communities most impacted by combustible tobacco use. We know that the highest smoking rates are among those who live in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and among those living with mental illness, substance use disorders, veterans, and others.  

FEATURED GRANTEES

National Harm Reduction Coalition

The project Global Action is supporting with the National Harm Reduction Coalition aims to address an unmet need for smoking cessation services among people who use drugs (PWUD) and smoke in the United States.

The goals of this project are to increase understanding of tobacco harm reduction and its role in smoking cessation within the traditional harm reduction community. Increased knowledge gained from tailored training programs is expected to lead care providers to integrate tobacco harm reduction approaches into existing services for PWUDs at syringe support programs (SSPs) and substance use disorder (SUD) treatment facilities.  

NHRC is developing evidence-based tobacco harm reduction education and training materials tailored to PWUD and their care providers. These training materials will be designed to correct widespread misinformation about the relative risks of nicotine compared to combustible tobacco.

Studio of the Americas

With support from Global Action, the Studio of the Americas will produce an independent documentary film called Smoke Alarm to increase awareness of the effect of tobacco use among the Native American and Indigenous (NAI) people and the availability of effective cessation approaches, including the potential role of tobacco harm reduction

THIS FILM WILL

  • Present the health effects of commercial tobacco use.
  • Differentiate its use from traditional usages within NAI communities.
  • Provide information on effective smoking cessation treatment strategies supporting NAI smokers quitting commercial tobacco product use. This includes the potential role of reduced-risk nicotine products to move smokers down the continuum of risk and aid cessation.

With smoking prevalence as high as 42% among NAI populations, identifying culturally appropriate strategies to reach and engage NAI smokers in smoking cessation represents an important public health objective.

LAND O’ LAKES

The Land O’ Lakes foundation is supporting the functionality of the Center for Agricultural Transformation (CAT), a building supported by a Global Action grant  LUANAR-Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources. This project continues to improve the CAT program to support agricultural diversification away from tobacco in Malawi. It enhances programmatic activities through the purchase of laboratory, technological and mechanical equipment, and furniture.

In 2024, the CAT building’s educational programs reached more than 75,000 farmers and their families in the area.

The team is now focused on promoting education on best practices for farmers looking to shift away from tobacco to six alternative value chains including
The team is now focused on promoting education on best practices for farmers looking to shift away from tobacco to six alternative value chains including