REGIONAL MEMBERSHIP GROUPS

The Union is divided into seven regions to provide a platform for addressing lung health and related issues from a regional perspective, allowing members to network with colleagues who face the same challenges and contribute to The Union's deep understanding of local issues. Members automatically join the region they live or work in most.

Union region conferences, organised by the members and other partners, are held regularly. These events provide an opportunity to present region-specific research, discuss innovative local programmes and offer training targeted to regional needs.

Other activities are defined by the region members and are usually planned during the annual meeting at The Union World Conference. Examples of activities include hosting workshops, planning advocacy events and publishing newsletters. Members can also become more involved by standing for election as a region officer, serving as the Region Representative to the Board of Directors or chairing the region conference committee. 

Throughout Africa, The Union provides technical assistance, education and research programmes in tuberculosis (TB), multidrug-resistant TB, child TB, TB-HIV and tobacco control.

Throughout the Asia Pacific region, The Union provides technical assistance, research and training programmes in tobacco control, tuberculosis (TB), non-communicable diseases, and health data. The Union has an Asia Pacific Office, based in Singapore, as well as a Asia Pacific membership group to help us meet our challenges in the region.

Europe is the home of The Union’s headquarters in Paris, France. Through our offices in Europe, The Union works at a strategic level to influence global health policy. 

The Union’s headquarters in Paris is the global cornerstone of the organisation, taking on a coordinating role, sets policy and provides financial oversight of the organisation. The Union Switzerland Office, based in Geneva, acts as the political convenor for The Union, working at a strategic level to influence global health policy through high-level discussion and partnership.

In Latin America, through the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use Grants Program, The Union supports governments and non-governmental organisations working in tobacco control and manages grants projects to promote key interventions, such as tax increases and smoke-free environments.

The Union has worked in Latin America since 2006 providing grants and tobacco control technical support to organisations through the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use (BI) Grants Program.

Mexico and Brazil are BI Grants Program priority countries, but The Union also provides support to other countries in the region.

The Union’s work in Latin America has led to major tobacco control policy achievements, including:

  • Since 2006, The Union has provided technical assistance to strengthen and enforce tobacco control policies. For example, The Union supported the adoption of 14 state-level smokefree policies protecting more than 53 percent of Mexico’s population. In 2020, Mexico issued a landmark presidential decree, prohibiting the import of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, sending a clear message that public health must be prioritised over the tobacco industry’s commercial interests. Read more.
  • The Union has facilitated Brazil’s tobacco control work for more than a decade, working alongside national organisations on major country-wide tobacco control policy reforms. Brazil is now a global leader for tobacco control and has seen a significant drop in adult smoking rates. In 2019, the Government of Brazil filed a landmark lawsuit against British American Tobacco and Philip Morris International, seeking to recover five years of smoking-related illness costs paid by the public health system. Read more.
  • In 2018, Uruguay became the first Latin American country to introduce tobacco product plain packaging; this proven strategy is a powerful tactic in the tobacco control arsenal as it discourages users—both new and current. The Union helped the government build a solid evidence base for the initiative, including a study demonstrating that plain packaging increased tobacco product risk perception among Uruguayan smokers. Read more.


The Union provides technical assistance and training to a number of countries across the region including Djibouti, Morocco and United Arab Emirates.

The Union’s tobacco control in New York, USA, providing specialised knowledge in the legal, economic, policy development, management, training and communications aspects of tobacco control.

Throughout South-East Asia, The Union provides public health expertise to the region’s governments, civil society, corporations and international agencies on TB, HIV and tobacco control, working in close partnership with the Ministries of Health and health services. It also conducts operational research, capacity-building programmes and grant-monitoring services.

The Union South-East Asia Office was The Union’s first region office, located in India. The Union Office in Myanmar located in Mandalay provides HIV and TB-HIV programmes.

For more info about our South East Asia region, please visit https://theunion.org/our-work/south-east-asia