Honourable Professor Ali Mrabet Minister of Health of Tunisia
Ms Eugena Song, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative
Dr Joumana Hermez, WHO Representative for Tunisia
Dear colleagues,
I am very pleased to join you all today in this press conference on the Investment Case for Tobacco Control in Tunisia.
Tobacco use is a major problem in Tunisia. We know that one quarter of all adults in Tunisia currently use tobacco, but the situation is particularly alarming with almost half of all men using tobacco.
This Investment Case illustrates the wider impacts of tobacco use on the Tunisian economy if action is not taken. Tobacco has negative impacts across the whole of society, and acts as a brake on sustainable development.
By implementing the measures in the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, countries will be able to see real gains as they advance the entire Sustainable Development Goal agenda, not just health and well-being.
It is clear that the problems created by tobacco use are well understood by the Government and Parliament of Tunisia. And I wish to take this opportunity to recognize the efforts that have made to reduce the burden of tobacco in the country.
This Investment Case demonstrates that by taking a comprehensive and multisectoral approach to tobacco control, Tunisia stands to realize enormous gains.
The WHO FCTC Secretariat is pleased to be supporting Tunisia’s tobacco control efforts through the country’s participation in our FCTC 2030 development assistance project.
We call on Tunisia to implement stronger tobacco taxation policies, recognizing that higher prices for tobacco products decrease demand. At present, tobacco tax rates fall well below WHO recommendations, and tobacco remains too affordable compared to other countries.
We are confident that this Investment Case will provide the evidence and rationale to guide future policy-making efforts on tobacco, and that the Tunisia-specific data and analysis will be useful not only for the Ministry of Health, but for all ministries and stakeholders with a role to play in tobacco control.
I would like to urge decision-makers in the country to protect the hard-won advances in public health from the vested and commercial interests of the tobacco industry that has only one objective – to maximize its own profits.
I also wish to encourage Tunisia to become a Party to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products and to join the growing international community committed to working together to stamp out illicit trade, and thus further strengthen tobacco control efforts globally.
I thank Tunisia for joining the project and look forward to continuing to support you to achieve your ambitions for tobacco control. Through your clear commitment to ending the tobacco epidemic, we hope that Tunisia will be an emerging regional and global leader in tobacco control.
We are very grateful to WHO for its support of tobacco control, particularly the WHO country office, as well as the UN Development Programme for the support it has provided to FCTC 2030 project countries, including in the preparation of WHO FCTC Investment Cases.
I would also like to thank the governments of the Australia, Norway and the United Kingdom for their generous contributions to make the FCTC 2030 project possible.
Thank you.