The average Russian smokes 2,786 cigarettes a year, making the country the third highest tobacco-consuming nation in the world - a colossal market for tobacco. Each year, smoking-related illnesses cost Russia $48.1 billion a year and claim more than 400,000 lives annually. Millions more are sickened by second-hand smoke, experienced by 80 percent of the Russian population.

In 2012, Russian non-government organization Health and Development Foundation ran a nationwide anti-smoking campaign started in the end of 2011 and reaching its culmination throughout 2012 to support new laws to restrict tobacco sales and promotion, as well as smoking in public places. The program was hailed by leading Russian daily newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda as “the world’s biggest battle against tobacco.”

Our approach was simple: clear the air by giving people their first taste of a Russia without cigarettes. A Smoke-Free Russia. Driving genuine behavioral change and support prior to a legislative drive.

No more passive words or health warnings. The campaign demanded real action -- from policymakers, opinion leaders, restaurants and bars, the media, and ultimately the public.

The drive garnered support amongst eighty percent of Russians, paving the way for Russian President Vladimir Putin to sign anti-tobacco legislation into law in February 2013, restricting where tobacco can be sold, prohibiting smoking in the workplace and on public transportation, and banning cigarette marketing and content in media aimed at children.

As much of the world opts to put out its cigarettes in favor of health, the Health and Development Foundation (HDF) knew the time was right to convince Russians to embrace the trend and stop the cycle of addiction for new generations. HDF is a non-governmental organization that conducts programs aimed at public health improvement and behavior change, including anti-tobacco education and activism. Within this purview, the organization was in a perfect position to creatively light up public debate to effect a change in policy and behavior. But accomplishing this took a fresh and innovative approach to jolt Russians into a new pattern.

The drive garnered support amongst 80% of Russians, paving the way for Russian President Vladimir Putin to sign anti-tobacco legislation into law in February 2013, restricting where tobacco can be sold, prohibiting smoking in the workplace and on public transportation, and banning cigarette marketing and content in media aimed at children. Signatures in support of Smoke Free legislation totaled 116,766, surpassing the campaign’s goal to collect 100,000 signatures through its website www.mk.ru/nosmoking. The campaign achieved stories in more than 2,500 business, political and general interest media, reaching more than 60m people, or 40% of the population.