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 In Judy Wilkenfeld, the world found a tenacious fighter devoted to protecting individuals’ health from the grasp of the tobacco industry. First as a federal official and then as vice president of international affairs at the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Judy was instrumental in the creation of the world’s first-ever public health treaty, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).
Judy recognized the important obligation that the U.S. has to help protect the world from the tobacco companies, and she envisioned how an international treaty could dramatically reduce the tobacco companies’ reach into “new markets”. At a public hearing in 2002, Wilkenfeld criticized the Bush Administration for not supporting a strong treaty. “I will be very frank and say that we have been extremely disappointed with the U.S. negotiating positions so far,” she testified. “Current U.S. efforts to weaken and water down the treaty are not befitting of a great country, nor are they appropriate given the central role that U.S.-based tobacco companies have played in spreading this epidemic. We hope and trust that the U.S. delegation to the FCTC will take this opportunity to undo the damage it has done in the negotiations so far, and work for a strong treaty that protects public health.”
During FCTC negotiations five months later, Judy led the charge in urging the United States delegation to withdraw after the U.S. attempted to water down the treaty and sought to block other nations’ efforts to strengthen it. The U.S. heeded Judy’s counsel, and the delegation packed up and left Geneva. After the U.S. departed, a strong and effective global health treaty was successfully negotiated and has been ultimately been ratified by over 150 nations. The U.S. signed the treaty in May 2004, but the Administration has yet to forward it to the Senate for ratification.
Judy’s expertise and dedication to tobacco control is recognized and honored around the world. She was awarded the American Lung Association’s C. Everett Koop “Unsung Hero Award” in 2003. Tragically, Judy lost her life to cancer in 2007, yet the powerful words and actions of this incredible visionary have left a legacy that continues to inspire advocates’ fight for tobacco control worldwide. | 
