1st September, 2026
A webinar on Commercial Determinants of Health (CDoH) in tobacco control was held on 1 September 2026 (11:00 AM–1:00 PM), organized by RCTC in collaboration with Vital Strategies and C-CDOH, Institute of Public Health, Bengaluru. It brought together 18 experts from tobacco control, public health, academia and policy for expert presentations and an interactive panel discussion, concluding with remarks by Prof. Sonu Goel; the session saw strong engagement, with discussion extending beyond the scheduled time. The key takeaway was the need for India to shift from fragmented regulation to a coordinated national CDoH governance framework integrating COTPA, taxation, the National Tobacco Control Programme and Article 5.3, along with transparency, conflict-of-interest safeguards, industry-interference protection, digital marketing surveillance, fiscal measures and whole-of-government coordination.
