The outside groups we have discussed will generally be helpful in the pursuit of all of your advocacy objectives. But you will need additional, particular support for each separate policy you intend to pursue.

Allies for Tobacco-tax Increases

If you are pursuing increases in tobacco taxes, it will be very helpful to have:

• Tax experts who can help you design tax proposals that will fit within your country's tax system, and will work to raise the prices of tobacco products in ways that encourage smokers to quit and discourage young people and other non-smokers from starting to smoke
• Economists who can convince finance officials and parliamentarians that tax increases will increase tax revenues, even as they decrease tobacco consumption
• Business leaders prepared to support tobacco-tax increases, even from fear that new tax burdens otherwise will fall on them
• Free-market political party leaders who support tobacco-tax increases, although they may oppose tax increases in general

When they need to, advocates can make their case without experts. In South Africa, for example, advocates did not rely on experts to make the case for tax increases. They obtained the data themselves and presented it to the finance and other ministries. Later, support from experienced economists helped, but it was not essential for success.

In most countries and states that have adopted tobacco-tax increases, tobacco control advocates have collaborated with powerful citizen groups. These groups range from labor organizations, to health-care-system leaders, to teacher associations. Any groups who might benefit from the revenues raised by new taxes are potential allies. Ideally, you will find such allies who also want to see a significant part of the new revenues dedicated to tobacco control programs.

Allies for Smoke-free Workplaces

You may find your strongest allies in advocating for smoke-free workplaces among business leaders who voluntarily adopted such standards for their offices—and found that smoke-free policies raise worker satisfaction and keep workplace costs down.

Similarly, restaurant and bar owners who voluntarily go smoke-free, or who operate in a city with smoke-free restaurant laws, can be important allies—if they are willing to say publicly that such ordinances are good for both businesses and workers.

If you can find no business owners of this opinion in your country, you may be able to call upon those in other countries. For example, tobacco control advocates in Sri Lanka asked US business leaders who owned smoke-free establishments to write an open letter to Sri Lankan business leaders.

Allies for Advertising Bans

Allies in marketing, advertising, and the media who support bans on tobacco advertising will prove extremely helpful to you. They can counter tobacco-company claims that advertising bans will hurt a nation's economy—and especially hurt advertising and media firms. These associates can argue, first, that public health concerns justify such bans. They can also point out that in countries that have banned cigarette advertising, such as Poland, other kinds of advertising have easily filled the gap. Advertising firms have not suffered.

You will also find helpful lawyers who will testify that ad bans are lawful, and economists who can argue that such bans will benefit the nation's economy on the whole.