The announcement by Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg that they are committing $500 million to worldwide stop smoking efforts is to be applauded. The World Health Organization cites the toll in lives lost in the 20th century to be around 100 million, and further estimates that up to one billion lives could be lost in the 21st century.

The tobacco industry (especially Philip Morris), while not exactly sitting on its hands in the U.S., has been focusing much of its marketing campaign on the international market, especially developing nations. To optimize this effort Philip Morris International is no longer affiliated with Philip Morris USA or its parent company, Altria. According to Motley Fool, the investment advice service, “the Marlboro Man is finally free to roam the globe unfettered by the legal and marketing shackles of the U.S. domestic market.” This includes marketing products designed to attract children abroad that are illegal in the U.S., such as flavored cigarettes and specialty products designed to skirt smoke-free air restrictions.

With 350 million smokers in China alone, about 60% of men smoke, but only 2-3% of women. Tobacco experts around the world clearly see Phillip Morris International’s strategy – sell to this huge potential market of Chinese girls and women.

The Gates/Bloomberg efforts come just in time to help combat the attempts of Big Tobacco to undermine the global efforts of the World Health Organization. The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) is a concerted effort to attack the global tobacco epidemic. The treaty seeks to protect exposure to second-hand smoke, regulate contents of tobacco products, regulate packaging and labeling of tobacco products, restrict tobacco advertising and promotion, and promote demand for and availability of tobacco dependence treatment services. This last item—treatment services—seems to be the one component missing from the Gates/Bloomberg effort.

While $500 million is not chump change, it does pale in comparison to the billions spent by Big Tobacco on advertising and promotion worldwide. For perspective, last year, Tobacco spent around $30 million per day on advertising and promotion in the U.S. alone! In order to be effective in countering these Tobacco dollars, this $500 million will have to be spent well. And partnering with WHO is a smart move.

Not including treatment services is not. According to the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use, funding will not be available to provide treatment services, “…nor is the grants program designed to fund …..cessation services.”

Treatment is an essential component of a comprehensive tobacco control policy. A key US Public Health Service Guideline recommendation states that “Tobacco dependence treatments are effective across a broad range of populations….” Not only is treatment a core component of the FCTC (Article 14), it is a proven component of U.S. state tobacco programs. With quitlines delivering evidence-based care in all 50 states, it is difficult to understand why cessation services in developing nations are not being funded by the Gates/Bloomberg initiative.

Hats off to Gates and Bloomberg for stepping up to the plate with some significant funding to combat the global tobacco epidemic. One can only hope they see the light and begin to fund tobacco dependence treatment services as well.