WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

ECST: Blocking Smokers Access to Better Alternatives Transgress Human Rights

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, November 2, 2023
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"Adult smokers should be given assistance and information to quit smoking, such as access to safer alternatives," Saligupta said.

Key Points: 
  • "Adult smokers should be given assistance and information to quit smoking, such as access to safer alternatives," Saligupta said.
  • The open letter says that encouraging harm reduction helps people take positive steps to protect their health while respecting their freedoms and rights.
  • Saligupta said no less than the UN Human Rights Office recognizes the harm reduction approach to drug use as an "obligation" under the Right to Health.
  • Depriving them of this opportunity is not just a violation of human rights but also a failure to help adult smokers enjoy better lives," said Saligupta.

WHO Strategies Against Smoking Currently Insufficient--ITS Paper

Retrieved on: 
Monday, October 23, 2023
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He has, for example, served as a WHO expert and as secretary general of the 4th World Conference on Smoking and Health.

Key Points: 
  • He has, for example, served as a WHO expert and as secretary general of the 4th World Conference on Smoking and Health.
  • "However, increasing number of scientists and national governments believe that these new products represent an opportunity that can accelerate the demise of smoking.
  • To the extent that they can act as a substitute and displace smoking thereby improving public health," the paper says.
  • We have known for decades that people smoke for nicotine but die from the tar," the paper says.

New solutions urgently needed to tackle smoking worldwide: experts to convene in Poland at the Global Forum on Nicotine

Retrieved on: 
Monday, June 19, 2023
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Over four days , 70 speakers and hundreds of delegates at the tenth annual Global Forum on Nicotine (21 - 24 June) will focus on tobacco harm reduction , which encourages adults who cannot quit smoking to switch to safer nicotine products.

Key Points: 
  • Over four days , 70 speakers and hundreds of delegates at the tenth annual Global Forum on Nicotine (21 - 24 June) will focus on tobacco harm reduction , which encourages adults who cannot quit smoking to switch to safer nicotine products.
  • Despite decades of tobacco control efforts, a billion people still smoke worldwide, with eight million smoking-related deaths each year.
  • The thousands of toxins released when tobacco burns cause smoking-related diseases, not nicotine, which is a comparatively low-risk substance.
  • Vapes (e-cigarettes), pasteurised snus, nicotine pouches and heated tobacco products enable people to use nicotine without burning tobacco, significantly reducing health risks compared to continued smoking.

International Health Experts: Bangladesh Can Be Smoke-Free by 2040 If It Adopts the Swedish Model

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, May 30, 2023
Public Policy, Government, Tobacco, Retail, Other Policy Issues, Smoke, Smoker, Tobacco Control Act of Bhutan 2010, FCTC, Human voice, Incidence, WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, UN, United Kingdom, Public Health Advisor, Ashra, WHO, Smoking, Environment, Tobacco smoking, Disease, EU

This compelling strategy has the potential to dramatically alter the future for countless smokers, potentially saving millions of lives.

Key Points: 
  • This compelling strategy has the potential to dramatically alter the future for countless smokers, potentially saving millions of lives.
  • The inclusion of e-cigarettes in the new Tobacco Control Act could detrimentally impact Bangladesh’s goal of going tobacco-free by 2040.
  • The Swedish model promotes affordable, acceptable and accessible alternatives like snus, nicotine pouches and e-cigarettes, successfully reducing smoking rates by over 150% in 15 years.
  • Bangladesh has the opportunity to translate its economic transformation into accelerating tobacco control through harm reduction.

We worked out how many tobacco lobbyists end up in government, and vice versa. It's a lot

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, May 11, 2023
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Our study, published today, found about half of people involved in tobacco lobbying held positions in Australian governments before or after working for the tobacco industry.

Key Points: 
  • Our study, published today, found about half of people involved in tobacco lobbying held positions in Australian governments before or after working for the tobacco industry.
  • This “revolving door” between tobacco lobbyists and government is a key political lobbying mechanism to influence public health policy.

What we did and what we found

    • We gathered information from sources including federal, state and territory government lobbyist registers, social networking platform LinkedIn, and Australian news media.
    • We identified 56 lobbyists representing tobacco companies (via lobbyist registers and archives) and another 73 current and former in-house tobacco lobbyists (via other means).
    • Senior government roles included members of parliament, senators, chief or deputy chiefs of staff, and senior ministerial advisors.

Why is this a worry?

    • It’s a tactic common in the gambling, alcohol and food industries.
    • Read more:
      How to deal with fossil fuel lobbying and its growing influence in Australian politics

Out of sight

    • The movement of key people between government and tobacco industry roles without adequate transparency provides potential opportunities to influence policymaking out of sight.
    • In Australia, tobacco industry interference tactics largely hinge on the industry’s new product pipeline – e-cigarettes (vaping products).
    • However, the “revolving door” is important for tobacco companies as it provides opportunities to influence policymaking out of public sight.

What can we do about it?

    • Greater public disclosure There needs to be more extensive public disclosure of all tobacco company employees and lobbyists – acting directly or via third-party allies.
    • This information should be added to existing government registers, and also include detailed updates of activities and meetings 2.
    • Enforce ‘cooling off’ periods We need to extend and enforce “cooling off” periods – the minimum time required between switching from public to the private sector.
    • But our study showed these cooling off periods are not being enforced, and there are no serious sanctions.

Sweden’s Stunning Smoke Free Success Provides a Road Map That Could Save Lives of Millions - Major New Report

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, March 14, 2023
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PUBLIC health experts launched a major new report today (TUESDAY) to mark Sweden approaching the historic milestone of becoming Europe’s first ‘Smoke Free’ country.

Key Points: 
  • PUBLIC health experts launched a major new report today (TUESDAY) to mark Sweden approaching the historic milestone of becoming Europe’s first ‘Smoke Free’ country.
  • Sweden is on course to drop below a 5% tobacco smoking prevalence rate in the coming months.
  • This is the level below which the country will be considered officially ‘Smoke Free’.
  • "Sweden has a very successful tobacco strategy that should be exported," says Professor Karl Fagerström, who also authored the report.

Tobacco giant ejected from Canadian COVID-19 vaccine collaboration

Retrieved on: 
Monday, December 26, 2022
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EDMONTON, TORONTO and BOSTON, Monday, December 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Civil society organizations are hailing the expulsion of tobacco giant Philip Morris from Canada's major government-backed COVID-19 vaccine collaboration, Medicago Inc.

Key Points: 
  • EDMONTON, TORONTO and BOSTON, Monday, December 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Civil society organizations are hailing the expulsion of tobacco giant Philip Morris from Canada's major government-backed COVID-19 vaccine collaboration, Medicago Inc.
  • The news follows the rejection of Medicago's Covifenz vaccine by the World Health Organization (WHO) in March due to the corporation's tobacco industry ties.
  • We are relieved that Canadian governments have washed their hands of this unethical and embarrassing collaboration with a tobacco giant."
  • "Now that Philip Morris has been ejected from this collaboration, we urge Canadian governments to fully comply with the treaty by closing the barn door on any future tobacco industry partnerships," said Daniel Dorado, Corporate Accountability's tobacco campaign director.

Sweden Achieves the Lowest Smoking Rate in Europe and is on Track to Become Officially Smoke-Free - The EU Must Take Note

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, December 6, 2022
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This makes Swedes the only European nation close to reaching the smoke-free goal set by the EU 18 years ahead of the 2040 target.

Key Points: 
  • This makes Swedes the only European nation close to reaching the smoke-free goal set by the EU 18 years ahead of the 2040 target.
  • It is about to become the first country in the world to be defined as smoke free, representing a share of less than 5% of the population smoking.
  • The next lowest smoking rate in Europe is double that of Swedens, with the EU average sitting somewhere around 23%, four times higher than in Sweden.
  • Its views are independent of any brand or manufacturer and focuses on the individual and population health needs of adult smokers.

Research launched at Global Forum on Nicotine shows WHO's tobacco control measures are failing - and that harm reduction works

Retrieved on: 
Friday, June 17, 2022
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WARSAW, Poland, June 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A new study launched at the ninth annual Global Forum on Nicotine (#GFN22) in Warsaw shows implementation of the WHO's tobacco control measures known as MPOWER has no clear association with low-levels of tobacco-related mortality in Europe.

Key Points: 
  • WARSAW, Poland, June 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A new study launched at the ninth annual Global Forum on Nicotine (#GFN22) in Warsaw shows implementation of the WHO's tobacco control measures known as MPOWER has no clear association with low-levels of tobacco-related mortality in Europe.
  • Instead, the independent research , conducted by distinguished tobacco dependence researcher Dr Lars M. Ramstrm , shows that switching from smoking to Swedish-style snus, a safer nicotine product, is a more effective strategy to reduce the harms caused by tobacco.
  • Presented to hundreds of delegates, as well as over 50 international experts on tobacco and nicotine science who are speaking at #GFN22, the new findings provide further evidence that the WHO must embrace tobacco harm reduction as part of its global tobacco control response by supporting the use of safer nicotine products to quit smoking.
  • Comprising six measures, it aims to reduce the demand for tobacco.

Research launched at Global Forum on Nicotine shows WHO's tobacco control measures are failing - and that harm reduction works

Retrieved on: 
Friday, June 17, 2022
Smoker, Tobacco, Mortality, Smoking, Framework convention, Science, Global Burden of Disease Study, WHO, Association, FCTC, Man, Research, TCS, Sale, WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, Disease burden, Male, Woman, Nicotine, EU

WARSAW, Poland, June 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A new study launched at the ninth annual Global Forum on Nicotine (#GFN22) in Warsaw shows implementation of the WHO's tobacco control measures known as MPOWER has no clear association with low-levels of tobacco-related mortality in Europe.

Key Points: 
  • WARSAW, Poland, June 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A new study launched at the ninth annual Global Forum on Nicotine (#GFN22) in Warsaw shows implementation of the WHO's tobacco control measures known as MPOWER has no clear association with low-levels of tobacco-related mortality in Europe.
  • Instead, the independent research , conducted by distinguished tobacco dependence researcher Dr Lars M. Ramstrm , shows that switching from smoking to Swedish-style snus, a safer nicotine product, is a more effective strategy to reduce the harms caused by tobacco.
  • Presented to hundreds of delegates, as well as over 50 international experts on tobacco and nicotine science who are speaking at #GFN22, the new findings provide further evidence that the WHO must embrace tobacco harm reduction as part of its global tobacco control response by supporting the use of safer nicotine products to quit smoking.
  • Comprising six measures, it aims to reduce the demand for tobacco.