On one hand, the anti-tobacco lobby is gaining strength, but on the other, tobacco companies are finding new ways of surviving litigations. Governments world over are in a big dilemma whether to vote for health or wealth.

Every year, the Big Tobacco1 makes hefty payments to the Federal Justice Department, state attorneys general and sometimes to individual customers. The reason? Following the Master Settlement Agreement of 1998, signed by the Big Tobacco and 46 states in the US, and the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, signed on May 21, 2002 by the world's governments at the WHO annual assembly, several misdeeds of the Big Tobacco were unearthed. To settle various charges against them, the Big Tobacco and 46 states signed the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA), according to which, the Big Tobacco agreed to pay a sum of $246 bn over a period of 25 years. However, after scanning internal documents, (gaining access to which, was a part of the MSA), it was clearly evident that the tobacco companies were indulging in activities like smuggling, price fixing, misleading consumers on the ill-effects of using the so-called `lights' et al. To settle these charges the Big Tobacco may have to pay an amount to the tune of $280 bn, i.e., besides $246 bn they already are paying as part of the MSA. And all these litigations demand a large portion of revenues of these companies.

Alarmed by the number of deaths caused by tobacco every year, and the way these companies make profits at the cost of public health, the WHO (World Health Organization) intensified its fight against tobacco. Prof. Steven A Schroeder, Director, Smoking Cessation Leadership Center, University of California, in his report `Tobacco Control in the Wake of Master Settlement Agreement, 1998' noted that 4.8 billion deaths worldwide are caused due to smoking-related illnesses. The WHO predicts that by 2030, the number will touch 10 million, making tobacco use the world's leading cause of preventable death. Unfortunately, 7 million of these will be from the developing nations. The tobacco companies are targeting the developing world to shield the profits eroded by the litigations in the developed world.