Jérôme Salomon: 1st ever WHO treaty marks 20 years of saving millions of lives worldwide

Jérôme Salomon, Assistant Director General of World Health Organization, shared a post on LinkedIn:

“1st ever World Health Organization treaty marks 20 years of saving millions of lives worldwide: the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control WHO FCTC is one of the most widely embraced United Nations treaties in history.

The WHO FCTC is the 1st ever public health treaty negotiated under the auspices of WHO with 183 Parties to the Convention covering 90% of the global population.

The treaty provides a legal framework and a comprehensive package of evidence-based tobacco control measures underpinned by international law that have saved millions of lives including large pictorial health warnings on cigarette packages, smoke free laws and increased taxes on tobacco products.

“Tobacco is a plague on humanity, the leading cause of preventable death and disease globally,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO DG “Over the past 2 decades, 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 WHO FCTC has helped to save millions of lives through strengthened tobacco control measures around the world. The Convention marks a milestone in public health and international law. We continue to call on countries to further strengthen and implement its measures, and for countries that have not yet ratified the WHO FCTC to do so.”

Since its implementation 20 years ago, 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.

138 countries require large pictorial health warnings on cigarettes packages as a result of the Convention and dozens more countries have implemented plain packaging rules on cigarette packages which require a standard shape and appearance without branding, design or a logo on cigarette packages. Both measures serve as powerful tools to reduce tobacco consumption and warn users about the dangers of tobacco use.

Over a quarter of the world’s population is now covered by smoke free policies which require bans in indoor and workspaces, saving millions of lives from the dangers of the second-hand smoke.

66 countries have implemented bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship which include bans on tobacco advertising in the media and sponsorship deals while it is crucial more countries do the same.

Tobacco use is a major driver of noncommunicable diseases NCDs, causing premature death and disability. Tobacco-related illnesses lead to catastrophic health expenditures, particularly for the poor, trapping families in a cycle of poverty. Smokers are more likely to be food insecure than non- smokers. Moreover, tobacco cultivation eats up large swaths of land which could otherwise support sustainable food production systems

The tobacco industry continues to undermine public health efforts, aggressively targeting youth through marketing, lobbying against tobacco control policies.”

Bente Mikkelsen, Former Director of Noncommunicable Diseases (NCD) at WHO, reshared the post on LinkedIn, adding:

“For health and security!

Congratulations for impact for fighting NCDs through WHO FCTC. the fight must continue to the end with the support of World Health Organization.”