Judith Mackay

Who is Judith Mackay?

Judith Longstaff Mackay is a British-born and Hong Kong–based medical doctor and international anti-tobacco advocate who led a campaign against tobacco in Asia from 1984 onwards, campaigning for tax increases to discourage youth smoking, for the creation of smoke-free areas, and against tobacco promotion. Her main interests are tobacco in low income countries, tobacco promotion aimed at women, and challenging the transnational tobacco companies.

She completed her medical training in Edinburgh and is now a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and London. She holds professorships at the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine in Beijing, the Department of Community Medicine at the University of Hong Kong., and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She is a Senior Policy Advisor to World Health Organization

In 1989 she started the Hong Kong–based Asian Consultancy on Tobacco Control and worked unpaid for 20 years devoting herself to Tobacco Control matters. Currently she works for World Lung Foundation, partner of the Bloomberg Initiative to reduce tobacco use in low- and middle-income countries. She is also a Senior Advisor to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.