20 Years In, We Need the WHO FCTC More Than Ever

Twenty years ago, after years of work and negotiations, the world’s first global health treaty came into force: the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

By 2005, the tobacco industry had made its way into every corner of the world. The burden of disease, death, social harm and environmental destruction caused by its products was growing, and so were its profits. The treaty provided the world’s first comprehensive framework for tobacco control—a unified, evidence-based way for countries to fight back against an industry that was using a global playbook of tactics to hook as many people as possible.

Among its 38 articles, the treaty laid out measures to:

• Reduce the demand for tobacco, such as increasing taxes; implementing smoke-free spaces; implementing large health warnings on packs; offering public education initiatives; banning all tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship; and supporting cessation;
• Reduce the supply of tobacco, including eliminating the illicit tobacco trade; enforcing age limits for purchasing tobacco; and promoting economically viable alternative activities to those who grow or sell tobacco;
• Protect the environment from the damaging impact of tobacco; and
• Hold the industry liable.

Today, there are 183 Parties to the FCTC, covering 90% of the world’s population. That means that the majority of people are now protected by at least one policy in line with the FCTC and MPOWER, a distillation of evidence-based measures to help countries prioritize policies that reduce demand.

This has translated into real-world public health wins. Today, there are an estimated 118 million fewer people using tobacco than in 2005 when the treaty came into force and, in many parts of the world, tobacco use has steadily declined. MPOWER measures are estimated to have saved more than 37 million lives.

The FCTC has addressed the biggest barrier to progress: a predatory industry

While people have seen or experienced many of the FCTC’s measures in action, such as graphic health warnings or smoke-free spaces, they may benefit the most from a provision they can’t see at work, Article 5.3, which requires governments to protect their health policies from tobacco industry meddling.

The tobacco industry has been called the biggest barrier to reducing tobacco use. One of the ways it has successfully kept the tobacco epidemic going is by influencing policymaking, so that policies ultimately protect its commercial interests instead of public health.

For example, the industry has lobbied governments to decrease tobacco taxes or to delay or block tobacco tax increases. It has influenced parliamentarians to file bills that promote the tobacco industry and fights to delay comprehensive tobacco control bills from being passed or implemented. It has sought collaborations with government officials and endorsements of so-called corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, like litter cleanups or tree plantings. The industry has even sued governments, many of them in low- and middle-income countries, when governments tried to implement life-saving tobacco control legislation.

According to the Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index, which documents how well governments protect their policies from industry meddling, many countries are using Article 5.3 to stop this interference. Governments in Brunei, Ethiopia, the Netherlands, the Philippines and the U.K. are implementing sector-wide codes of conduct, guidance or circulars on Article 5.3 Guidelines. And Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Chad, Ethiopia, Gabon, Lao PDR, Nepal, Peru and Uganda have incorporated Article 3.5 into their national tobacco control laws.

The Index shows that governments can—and should—invoke Article 5.3 when the industry tries to meddle in policymaking. But it also shows that most countries are not using Article 5.3 to its full potential and have not implemented it across the whole of government. Each edition details extensive examples of governments succumbing to industry influence, or even inviting the industry to the policymaking table.

For the FCTC to be effective, governments must abide by their obligations to the treaty. Over the past two decades, the FCTC has saved millions of lives. With full implementation, it could save millions more.

20 years in, it’s time to strengthen the world’s commitment to the WHO FCTC and Article 5.3

This November at the Conference of the Parties (COP11) to the FCTC, ministers, policymakers, international organizations, civil society leaders and young activists will reaffirm their commitment to Article 5.3, and will participate in a Strategic Dialogue to commemorate the treaty’s successes since 2005, and discuss future actions to address an industry that continues to try to undermine implementation of the treaty.

As in years past, the industry and its allies will likely try to meddle with this year’s COP meeting and stifle progress. Throughout this year, they have maintained a steady drumbeat of placed media articles, events and social media campaigns criticizing the meeting, the treaty and the process. WHO has issued a warning for delegates to stay vigilant against this interference, which is proof that the FCTC is more needed than ever.

The FCTC is an unquestionable global public health win. To continue saving lives around the world, governments must reaffirm their commitments to this global health treaty and fully implement Article 5.3 to protect policy, and ultimately, people.