Thank you Dr Barnard.
Honorable ministers, State Secretary Blokhuis, esteemed colleagues and friends.
Thanks to the government of the Netherlands for inviting the Convention Secretariat to co-organise this very relevant side event. I am sure that the experience of the implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control will serve as an example to delegates that are joining the 2018 UN High Level Meeting on NCDs on how countries have decided to tackle one single risk factor already making the world healthier.
Based on strong evidence, the Convention sets minimum standards for its 181 Parties to support them in adopting strong tobacco control policies and legislation to tackle the widespread tobacco pandemic, one in which a single deadly product causes seven million deaths a year worldwide.
We have now more than a decade of experience and expertise to tackle tobacco use and second hand tobacco smoke. Our role in promoting sustainable development is now recognized within the SDG2030 agenda, as Target 3.a that calls for strengthening the implementation of WHO FCTC in all countries, as appropriate.
So, what have we concretely achieved? And how have our progress and successes contributed to the fight against the rising prevalence of NCDs?
Let me start by informing you on our latest achievement. The Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products, has entered into force and the first meeting of its governing body with 46 Parties, takes place in Geneva from 8 to 10 October of this year, right after the Eighth session of the Conference of the Parties to the WHO FCTC, or COP8 as we call it.
We are happy to report, based on the information received from the Parties to the WHO FCTC in the 2018 reporting cycle, that there has been significant progress in the implementation of most articles to the Convention.
Nine out of 10 Parties to the Convention have implemented measures to protect their citizens from exposure to second-hand smoke. The trend of extending smoking bans from closed public places to outdoor areas and cars continues, and several Parties also broadened the scope of their smoke-free legislation to cover new and emerging tobacco products.
The greatest increase in the average implementation of the Convention was observed in the area of packaging and labelling. There has been a domino effect as more Parties to the Convention adopt plain packaging legislation. Many Parties have increased the size of their pictorial warnings reaching up to 92.5% of the package.
More than two thirds of the Parties reported having implemented comprehensive tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship bans, with more Parties also reporting point-of-sale display bans.
Encouragingly, the Parties have strengthened their efforts to include diagnosis and treatment of tobacco dependence in their national tobacco control strategies and promoted tobacco cessation in various national events. These efforts will certainly contribute to the reduction of NCDs and will also have a beneficial impact on controlling tuberculosis, or TB.
We also need to acknowledge that despite all the significant progress and the successes, greater effort is needed to step up WHO FCTC implementation and overcome some of the gaps and challenges:
Many Parties still report that resources, financial and human, are insufficient at the country level, and a lack of political support, commitment and coordination among the sectors undermines progress.
Tobacco industry influence and interference in public health policies continue to be present, and issues like pictorial warnings, plain packaging and taxation continue to be under constant scrutiny and legal action by the industry at the national and international levels.
In any case, we have already information that through its implementation, the treaty is already impacting on global consumption of tobacco products. As an example, among all Parties globally in 2005, an estimated 24% of people aged 15 or older were current smokers (39% of males and 8% of females). And by 2017, smoking prevalence dropped to 19% (33% of males and 5% of females).
Nevertheless, international developments can provide impetus for WHO FCTC implementation. This includes the exploiting of new opportunities, including integration of the implementation of the Convention with other programmes, such as those focused on the control of NCDs and TB. A new report on the global impact of the WHO FCTC as an international treaty concluded that the “WHO FCTC has spurred the development of the NCD agenda and constituted a major element of the UN response to NCDs”.
Let’s follow that path and let’s further capitalize on our opportunities. On the way forward, let’s not forget that WHO FCTC implementation needs to be the business of all sectors – not only the health sector – and policy coherence must be ensured in matters related to tobacco in all sectoral policies.
Thank you for your kind attention.