Battling another global killer

Despite launching her global campaign against “Big Tobacco” a decade ago, Melbourne radiation oncologist Bronwyn King says she still works “every second of the day” to bring about the downfall of an industry that the World Health Organisation (WHO) says causes one death every six seconds.

- ALAN DEANS

Her team at Tobacco Free Portfolios, a not-for-profit organisation aiming to eliminate investment in tobacco globally, has since made significant advances. Yet she doesn’t hold her breath that cigarettes will disappear any time soon.

“It might be that we are able to escalate tobacco control awareness and policy during a time when the whole world is focused on health,” says King. “Everything else is being disrupted and re-imagined, and everybody is talking about building back better after Covid-19. It would be very nice to build back a world that is tobacco free, rather than one that just expected eight million incremental deaths a year.”

King now has plenty of clout. Her campaign has galvanised support from local and global heavyweights, including finance groups AXA, BNP Paribas, AustralianSuper and AMP. In May, she organised a launch with WHO at United Nations headquarters in New York and called on young people to become a tobacco-free generation. A webinar was held instead.

WHO’s director-general, Tedros Ghebreyesus, pledged support for a new campaign that zeros in on youth smoking. Some 138 signatories from 26 countries have joined the cause, which means they refuse to invest in tobacco, lend the industry money or issue insurance policies. Backers have $US10.9 trillion ($15 trillion) under management and corporate loan books of $US2.6 trillion.

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Bronwyn King