WHO marks 20 years of its lifesaving tobacco control treaty

This article is published in association with United Nations.

A UN treaty that addresses the global tobacco epidemic has saved millions of lives over the past two decades, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday. 

The agency is this week celebrating the 20^th anniversary of the entry into force of its Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) – one of the most widely embraced UN treaties in history.

The Convention provides a legal framework and a comprehensive package of evidence-based tobacco control measures which include large pictorial health warnings on cigarette packages, smoke free laws and increased taxes on tobacco products.

Up to 5.6 billion people are now covered by at least one tobacco control policy in line with the treaty and studies have shown a decline in global smoking rates.

‘A plague on humanity’

“Tobacco is a plague on humanity – the leading cause of preventable death and disease globally,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. 

He noted that “since the entry into force of the WHO FCTC and the MPOWER technical package that supports it, global tobacco use prevalence has dropped by one-third.”

The Convention is the first ever public health treaty negotiated under the auspices of WHO. It came into effect on 27 February 2005 and currently there are 183 Parties covering some 90 per cent of the global population.

An event will be held on Thursday in Geneva to mark the milestone anniversary.

Bans and warnings

Thanks to the Convention, 138 countries now require large pictorial health warnings on cigarettes packets. Dozens more have implemented plain packaging rules which require a standard shape and appearance without branding, design or a logo. 

Both measures serve as powerful tools to reduce tobacco consumption and warn users about the dangers of tobacco use, WHO said.

Furthermore, over a quarter of the world’s population is now covered by policies that ban smoking indoors and in workspaces, saving millions from the dangers of second-hand smoke.

Meanwhile, over 66 countries have implemented bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, which include prohibitions against tobacco advertising in the media and sponsorship deals.

Confronting a ‘deadly’ industry

The treaty has also been instrumental in establishing legal defences in the face of the tobacco industry, which spends tens of billions of dollars on promotion. 

“The tobacco industry is a deadly industry behind the tobacco epidemic, now trying to position itself as part of the solution while actively derailing efforts at tobacco control which could save millions more lives,” said Dr. Adriana Blanco Marquizo, Head of the WHO FCTC Secretariat.

The treaty “equips Parties with a comprehensive set of measures to protect populations from the industry’s ever-evolving tactics – designed to profit at the cost of people’s lives and the health of our planet,” she added, urging countries “to remain ever watchful against its predatory tactics.”

The number of people smoking across the world in on the decrease.

The tobacco burden

Tobacco use is a major driver of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), causing premature death and disability, WHO explained.

Tobacco-related illnesses lead to catastrophic health expenditures, particularly for the world’s poor. Smokers are also more likely to lack access to nutritious food compared to non-smokers, including in wealthier countries. 

The impacts go even further. 

Tobacco cultivation uses large areas of land that could otherwise support sustainable food production systems, while its production further depletes vital resources such as land and water that are needed to produce food. 

Additionally, trillions of discarded plastic-heavy cigarette butts pollute ecosystems every year, further harming the planet.

Undermining public health

WHO said the tobacco industry “continues to undermine public health efforts, aggressively targeting youth through marketing, lobbying against tobacco control policies, and positioning itself as part of the solution to the problem it created.” 
 
Dr. Blanco Marquizo added that although great strides have been made in tobacco control, more remains to be done as “the tobacco industry continues to kill millions of people per year and its socio-economic burdens cause strains on entire populations.” 

She urged countries to fully implement the measures under the WHO FTC, including by increasing tobacco taxes, implementing smoke free laws, enforcing comprehensive advertising and sponsorship bans, prohibiting and regulating ingredients that form tobacco products, and addressing the challenges brought by new and emerging tobacco and nicotine products. 

“Through these measures we can save the lives of millions more people globally,” she said.