Co-Authors:

SANDRA DEL PINO
Human Rights Specialist, Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization
Ms. Sandra del Pino is the human rights specialist at the Pan American Health Organization. With a legal background and specialization in Peaceful Resolution of Conflicts and Humanitarian Law, Sandra has worked extensively within the UN system in the field of human rights. Most recently within the Western Pacific Regional Office of the World Health Organization (WPRO/WHO) in Manila and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Geneva.

Currently Sandra is working within the Office of Gender, Diversity and Human Rights at PAHO, where she advises Member States on the application of regional and international human rights standards, with an emphasis on the right to health and other related human rights of vulnerable populations. Key among them are persons deprived of liberty, women and LGBTI groups. Sandra is also an official translator from the University of Geneva. She conducts frequent human rights training workshops to raise awareness among high-level government officials and civil society representatives on the rights of marginalized populations using tuberculosis and other neglected diseases as entry points.

MR. JAVIER VASQUEZ
Human Rights Law Advisor, Pan American Health Organization
Mr. Javier Vasquez advises PAHO’s Member States in collaboration with its Representation offices on international human rights issues and strategies to improve the right to the highest attainable standard of health and other related human rights; on the formulation/review of national public health laws, polices, practices; and to structure public health services consistent with international human rights treaties and standards.  Serve as the WHO focal point for human rights initiatives in the Americas in collaboration with WHO Headquarters (Geneva).  He has officially conducted activities of technical collaboration and officially visited up to date 28 countries of PAHO/WHO. Previously, as a staff attorney for the IACHR, Mr. Vasquez personally handled the first decision issued by the Inter-American System regarding violations to the human rights and fundamental freedoms of a person with a mental disability known as “the case of Victor Congo” which interpreted the American Convention on Human Rights in a manner consistent with international/regional health standards and European Human Rights Jurisprudence in the field of psychiatry and disability rights.

Carlos Y. Cueto Diaz, Tulane University Law School
Carlos was born and raised in Havana City, Cuba, where he lived until the age of 19. In 2004, Carlos and his family immigrated to the United States and settled in the Commonwealth of Virginia. During his first year in the United States, he learned English while preparing for the SAT. In 2006, his efforts were rewarded with an admission to the University of Virginia, from where he graduated with distinction four years later.

After graduating from college, Carlos entered law school at Tulane University on a merit scholarship. During the summer between his first and second years, he worked at PAHO/WHO on a human rights project that dealt with issues affecting the LGBTI communities of Central America and the Caribbean. His experience at PAHO/WHO was very fulfilling, as it introduced him to the practice of international human rights law.

As the single most important risk factor for premature death and chronic disease in the world, tobacco poses a grave threat to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health.  Tobacco use claims 5.4 million lives each year. Tobacco is more fatal than tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, and malaria put together. It is projected that by 2030 tobacco will kill more than 8 million people globally each year; 80 percent of these deaths are expected to occur in low-to- middle income countries . . .