One of the key developments in international relations during the early twenty-first century is the ascendance of the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) (see Box 1 for terms and definitions). While their rising status stems largely from their demographic and economic growth (together accounting for about 40% of the world’s population and 40% of global GDP [1]), also important has...

Background: Smoking is the largest preventable cause of death in the world, killing nearly 6 million people annually. This article is an investigation of measures implemented laws in the Iran to study the proposed strategy of control and reduce tobacco use based on the monitor, protect, offer, warn, enforce and raise (MPOWER) policy.Methods: All laws approved by the Parliament along with the in...

JAMAICA: MORE TOBACCO, DESPITE FCTC Going against trends in most of the rest of the world, especially among countries committed to implementing to the WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), Jamaica is increasing tobacco production. It is not just that the department of agriculture has decided to stimulate tobacco leaf growing, but recent events suggest a larger and more sinister ...

This Commentary forms a response to Nikogosian’s and Kickbusch’s forward-looking perspective about the legal strength of international health instruments. Building on their arguments, in this commentary we consider what we can learn from the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) for the adoption of new legal international health instruments.