Progress, Potential, and Possibilities Podcast / Show Dr. Derek Yach - Founder, President, and Board Member - Foundation For A Smoke-Free World
Dr. Derek Yach, has been a global health expert and anti-smoking advocate for more than 30 years, is the Founder, President, and Board Member of the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World (FSFW - https://www.smokefreeworld.org/), and is also a passionate advocate for health promotion and disease prevention. Dr. Yach is a former World Health Organization (WHO) cabinet director and executive director for noncommunicable diseases and mental health where he was deeply involved with the development of the world’s treaty on tobacco control, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). He is also the former chief health officer of the Vitality Group, executive director of the Vitality Institute, Senior Vice President, global health and agriculture policy at PepsiCo, director of global health at the Rockefeller Foundation, and a professor of global health at Yale University. Dr. Yach has authored or co-authored more than 250 peer-reviewed articles on global health and has served on several advisory boards, including the World Economic Forum, Cornerstone Capital, and the Wellcome Trust. From 2007 to 2016, he served on the program advisory committee of the Clinton Global Initiative. Dr. Yach is a dual citizen of the United States and South Africa. He has an honorary DSc from Georgetown University, Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery from the University of Cape Town, BSc (Epidemiology), University of Stellenbosch, and an MPH from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The Foundation for a Smoke-Free World (FSFW) is an independent, nonprofit organization that funds research, promotes innovation, and supports collaborative initiatives committed to reducing deaths and diseases caused by smoking, and ending smoking in this generation. They strive to identify and address the unique needs of the developing world as they relate to tobacco cessation and harm reduction, and serves as a convener of global research supporting the reduction of tobacco use, while helping to address the impact of decreased smoking rates on agriculture and economies. The Foundation’s work focuses on three core areas: Health, Science, and Technology (HST); Agriculture and Livelihoods; and Industry Transformation. Disclaimer - How is the FSFW Funded? At its inception, the FSFW entered into a Pledge Agreement in which it agreed to accept charitable gifts from Philip Morris International (PMI) each year for the period 2018 through 2029 to fund their mission of solving the global health crisis and ending smoking in this generation. Recently, that agreement was revised, and PMI’s annual charitable gifts have been reduced. While FSFW is aware that there are challenges associated with accepting any funding from the tobacco industry, given the urgency of the problem – 1.1 billion smokers, more than 8 million dying each year, and a trajectory toward a billion deaths this century, the FSFW was compelled to help save lives, and took the bold step of accepting funding from PMI. The FSFW operates with integrity, as they abide all legal requirements, and holds itself to the highest ethical and scientific standards. Independence and transparency are core principles of the Foundation. To that end, FSFW adheres to the criteria laid forth by Cohen et al., particularly those relevant to transparency and independence, and has established an independent research agenda.