Dear brothers and sisters who are here representing all corners of the world in the joint effort against the tobacco epidemic
It’s a pleasure to be with you today.
I would like to thank to the Government of South Africa – and especially Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi and his team for making this conference possible. My thanks also to the Union, lead by our dear friend Jose Luis, and to all co-sponsors for organizing this important conference.
The sun shines even brighter on the African continent when we gather the international community in this Region to promote health and development.
Since the last World Conference on Tobacco or Health three years ago in Abu Dhabi, we have advanced in several aspects of tobacco-control science. I recall the opening ceremony of the last conference when I shared new frontiers in tobacco control. At that conference, plain packaging and policies on taxes and prices were the stars.
We are now in Cape Town to praise countries that have implemented these tobacco-control measures despite aggressive opposition from the tobacco industry at all levels. However, governments strongly supported by civil society, philanthropies such as Bloomberg and Gates, academia, and the fourth estate– the press – stood firm.
A number of countries have introduced plain packaging and an even larger number have implemented strong policies in line with Article 6 of the Convention, both with clear benefits for public health. I hope that this number will continue to grow and that this meeting in Cape Town will energize countries that are on the fence about embracing these life-saving policies.
Nevertheless, while some countries are progressing steadily towards the end game, many others are falling behind – and there is still much to be done. We need to constantly review the evidence on new interventions and discuss how to translate them into concrete policy-making. We must share experiences in implementing complex measures as diverse as product regulation, liability and environmental protection. And we must brainstorm to find the best way forward. And, the World Conferences are exactly the right environment to tackle these challenges.
Some of you remember that the 9th World Conference on Tobacco or Health held in Paris in 1994 recommended the negotiation of an international treaty – the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Many of us have worked hard to ensure the birth of the only treaty negotiated under the auspices of the World Health Organization. We are celebrating 15 years since the adoption of the Treaty by the 56th World Health Assembly in May 2003, and in February 2020 we will mark 15 years since it entered into force.
And we are now celebrating the successes that were only dreamed about by the international community, but have – through the Framework Convention – become a reality.
Smoke-free places are becoming the norm, larger pictorial health warnings on tobacco packages are a reality, and banning additives became an essential measure to ensure that children are not enticed by the tobacco industry. These days, traveling in a country with billboards advertising tobacco products feels like a trip into the past. There are no excuses for the fact that some tobacco users do not have access to cessation information and services. Finding tobacco products displayed together with sweets is unacceptable.
Decreased accessibility and affordability of tobacco products are concepts introduced in government agendas only after long-term efforts to convince finance officials that this is a win–win approach. This was hard work for all of us, but experience has shown it’s possible.
Ladies and gentlemen, we certainly have come a long way. In the beginning, it was mostly health professionals fighting this battle. Then, chemists, biologists, diplomats, communicators, economists and lawyers joined the cause. Today, our tobacco-control agenda is also included in broader agendas on gender, equity, climate change, humans right and development.
We have gone beyond demand-reduction measures, and are now engaging in supply-reduction measures. Our first Protocol, the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products, is about to enter into force as we only need 6 more countries to ratify it. Customs officials, border patrol, tax administrators, policemen and detectives are now deeply involved in the tobacco-control arena.
Alternative sustainable livelihoods and decent working conditions in tobacco- growing areas have brought to the movement new professionals, including sociologists, agronomists, engineers and environmentalists. Litigation has proven that the best judges award victories in the name of public health – and against claims filed by the tobacco industry. And, we are showing the multibillion-dollar tobacco industry, nationally and internationally, that they cannot just do whatever they want.
Nevertheless, as we review these past successes, the question remains: What’s next?
The upcoming Eighth Conference of the Parties, or COP8, will take place in Geneva, Switzerland, from 1 to 6 October of this year, and it will give us a taste of the areas of engagement of the 181 Parties to the treaty. For the newcomers among us, the COP is the world’s only intergovernmental meeting fully devoted to tobacco control. It is a platform for policy formulation and the adoption of implementation mechanisms by governments of the Parties to the Convention. Observers to COP, including intergovernmental organizations and nongovernmental organizations, including academia, are an essential part of this process and are expected to contribute to the discussions and support the outcomes.
For interested delegates, the Convention Secretariat is publishing a new Kit for Delegates with clear and simple information on what COP is, how it operates, and how and when each delegate can contribute.
And there is more good news:
COP8 will host – for the first time in its history – a high-level segment with the participation of government authorities for a dynamic and inspiring discussion on climate change and tobacco control, which are two of the biggest challenges the world faces.
A Medium-term Strategic Framework for the years 2019 to 2024 will be proposed to the Parties. The Framework was developed by a working group established by COP7 to guide global implementation by Parties of the Convention. The proposed strategy integrates the country assistance mechanisms that operate under the auspices of the COP. When endorsed, the Framework will serve as the new global agenda for tobacco control. All of you are invited to consider this Framework and align your activities to it.
COP8 will continue to call for the widest possible international cooperation to deliver an effective, appropriate and comprehensive response to the tobacco epidemic. The importance of tobacco control in promoting development is recognized in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including specific reference to WHO FCTC implementation in Target 3.a.
The Convention Secretariat continues to promote multisectoral tobacco-control policies at the country level using various mechanisms of assistance and in close coordination with international intergovernmental organizations such as WHO, UNDP, ILO and FAO. We aim to strengthen the UN system outreach to various sectors, promoting a better understanding of the treaty’s impact and gaining buy-in from these agencies.
A toolkit for the establishment of national intersectoral coordinating mechanisms and for the development of FCTC-compliant national tobacco-control legislation will be launched at this Conference as a result of the technical-level cooperation between the UNDP and the Convention Secretariat.
Other examples of our efforts to reach out to different sectors include the recently launched ODA - official development-assistance-funded FCTC 2030 Project that is providing intensive support to 15 low- and middle-income countries that are Parties to the treaty.
The bottom line is this – providing support for Parties to strengthen the implementation of the Convention by integrating tobacco control into broader development agendas will facilitate the achievement of many of the SDGs.
On a national level, we conducted over 50 needs-assessment missions with post- assessment support and 14 South–South collaboration projects with direct assistance to Parties. But, of course, we don’t work in isolation. We work together with IGOs, NGOs, philanthropies and grassroots organizations.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for these joint efforts in implementing the WHO FCTC on the ground.
In the end, all the work of the international community benefits those who really need our support: the Parties to the treaty. While we thank our many partners for what we have done together, we invite you to continue assisting countries with treaty implementation and call on countries that are not yet Parties to the treaty to join it.
And, it is worth emphasizing – and I know you need no reminders – we must yield no ground to the tobacco industry. The Convention Secretariat addresses, through notes verbale and statements published on its website, any attempts by the tobacco industry, as well as any organizations and individuals that work to further the interests of the tobacco industry, to interfere with the development of tobacco-control policies at the global level
We use our very active social media updates to disseminate responses to the tobacco industry’s threats and we invite you to follow us. We have a platform with information from and for the Parties.
As part of these initiatives, we are launching at this conference an e-learning tool on Article 19, showing different examples on how to address tobacco industry liability and what steps a country should take to make the industry liable for the damages it causes to society.
We are very proud that, in a recent development, the ECOSOC adopted last year a UN Model Policy on Tobacco Industry Interference for the UN agencies. We are working with several UN agencies, encouraging them to adopt the Model Policy or otherwise explicitly state that they do not partner with the tobacco industry. We saw that the tobacco industry was delisted from the UN Global Compact Initiative. The global community recognizes that the tobacco industry and tobacco companies cannot be seen as socially responsible corporations and should be viewed, ultimately, in the same way we view the arms industry, biochemical waste and nuclear weapons. We must, however, remain vigilant that the UN Model Policy is put into practice at the country level.
The ILO engaged in a discussion on whether or not to accept funds from the tobacco industry. This discussion shows we have still a lot of work to do in implementing the Model Policy. We are hopeful that during their forthcoming Governing Body meeting, starting in a few days, the ILO will make the right decision and stop accepting tobacco industry funds and partnerships. We hope that by the next WCTOH all of the UN system will have adopted the Model Policy.
Additionally, COP8 will continue to discuss new mechanisms to protect public health from the tobacco industry interference. This will include how COP sessions themselves can avoid conflicts of interest and conduct its work free from interference.
This will also be true for the First Meeting of the Parties of the Illicit Trade Protocol, which will take place after COP8 if we have 40 Parties signed on by the beginning of July. We already have 34 Parties and I hope that soon the Protocol – a treaty in its own right – will enter into force. We invite you all to join us in this huge effort to make this happen.
My dear colleagues, let me extend an invitation to all national professional groups, academia and civil society to get in contact with observers to the COP to be part of their delegations and attend COP8. The list of observers can be found on website of the Convention Secretariat. We are today launching the COP8 campaign, with information on COP8 available at our booth at this conference. Please come and visit us.
While I am pleased to have this opportunity to remind you of our collective successes, I also want to remind you that we can never be complacent. Success is uneven across the world. The tobacco industry will continue to prey on countries that are economically or politically vulnerable. Despite all the evidence on tobacco control being good for the economy and for social development, we need ongoing, systematic, collaborative efforts to ensure that tobacco-control benefits are equitably distributed.
We have in this room more knowledge, information, power and commitment than ever before. We can do this! We have a common goal and we can’t allow the tobacco industry to divide us.
We have to remember that there is an irreconcilable conflict of interest between the tobacco industry and public health. Those of you who are new to tobacco control, and for whom this might be your first or second World Conference, don’t be shy. Ask your questions, talk to veterans like myself, and take the time to learn.
I will end by quoting the great Nelson Mandela, who on the occasion of Walter Sisulu’s 90th birthday, said: “What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we led.”
So let’s continue to make a difference towards a tobacco-free world.
Thank you.