Activists Urge U.S. to Leave Tobacco Talks

American health activists urged Washington to pull out of World Health Organization talks on a global anti-smoking treaty, saying the U.S. seemed bent on weakening the pact.

“We, the major U.S. public health groups ... demand that the U.S. delegation ... go home,” Judith Wilkenfeld of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids said in Geneva. Groups including the American Cancer Society and American Heart Assn. accused the U.S. of resisting an advertising ban and tough action on secondhand smoke. U.S. officials weren’t available to comment.