The adoption of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control – or WHO FCTC as we call it – was a defining moment in public health and major victory for tobacco control.
The Convention is the first global health treaty negotiated under the auspices of WHO, and it has brought a new legal dimension to international health cooperation.
The WHO FCTC was adopted by the World Health Assembly in 2003, and it entered into force in February 2005.
Over the last 15 years, it has become one of the most widely embraced treaties in the United Nations history, with 182 Parties now on board.
Drawing on Article 15 of the Convention, which focuses on eliminating illicit trade in tobacco products, worldwide negotiations led to a new supplementary and legally binding international treaty – the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products.
The Protocol entered into force in September 2018, marking yet another important milestone in the history of tobacco control and global public health.
Sixty Parties to the WHO FCTC also have become Parties to the Protocol, and the number is growing.
The WHO FCTC has been globally recognized as an accelerator for sustainable development, being one of just three international conventions referenced in the Sustainable Development Goals and their related targets.
The inclusion of a specific target on tobacco control – Target 3.a – positions implementation of the WHO FCTC as key to sustainable development.
The Secretariat of the WHO FCTC – together with WHO – is co-custodian of the indicator 3.a.1, which is used for measuring progress towards the target of decreasing the prevalence of current tobacco use among people 15 years of age and older.
The implementation of the Convention's evidence-based measures has resulted in a steady decrease globally in tobacco use among both adult men and women, and across all income groups – a trend that is projected to continue.
However, our work is far from over, since the total number of adult tobacco users remains very high, and the reduction in average prevalence is expected to stall unless tobacco control policies are strengthened.
To measure the progress and impact of implementation of the treaty, the Global Strategy to Accelerate Tobacco Control: Advancing Sustainable Development through the Implementation of the WHO FCTC 2019–2025, adopted by the Eighth Session of the Conference of the Parties, monitors the number of Parties that include WHO FCTC implementation in their voluntary reports on domestic implementation of the SDGs – the so called voluntary national reviews, or VNRs – in relation to Target 3.a.
As part of the current workplan and budget of the Convention Secretariat, specific actions are requested in support of Target 3.a, including the development of a Guide for WHO FCTC Parties on including SDG Target 3.a in Voluntary National Reviews.
This practical Guide provides Parties, WHO FCTC focal points and other tobacco control stakeholders useful tools for reporting on this target.
It also provides specific recommendations on how to engage key stakeholders in the preparation of VNRs, and shows how these national reviews can highlight country policy results, implementation achievements and the impact of implementing the Convention, as part of national progress towards achieving the SDGs.
The Guide is available on the website of the Convention Secretariat.
The integrated nature of the SDGs and the interlinkages between its goals are crucial to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Given the strategic position of the WHO FCTC in relation not only to SDG3, which calls for good health and well-being, but to other development goals and targets, the Convention Secretariat participated in the Interlinkages Working Group of the Inter-agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators, under the United Nations Statistical Commission.
The Second Report of this Working Group highlighted the strong value of the WHO FCTC in working towards the achievement of the 2030 Agenda at the regional, subregional and national levels – as a result of the collaboration of the Convention Secretariat and WHO in this international mechanism.
I invite you to view this report on the website of the Statistics Division of United Nations Economic and Social Council, or ECOSOC.
In conclusion, allow me to remind you that the sole presence of the WHO FCTC on the development agenda is no guarantee of success.
Many challenges can compromise further progress, especially the COVID-19 pandemic and the omnipresent, never-ending interference of the tobacco industry in tobacco control efforts.
Even with these challenges, Parties need to protect and continue to advance in their public health agendas.
Some WHO FCTC measures are of paramount importance both now and during the recovery programmes that are certain to follow the pandemic.
We must continue to provide support to help smokers quit and we must use tax policies – in other words increase tobacco taxes – to provide domestic funds for development, as recommended in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on financing for development, and last but not least, to be aware of and counteract tobacco industry interference.
The Convention Secretariat remains steadfastly committed to support the Parties to the WHO FCTC and to the Protocol in their efforts to attain the goal of a healthy and sustainable world for all, free of the tobacco epidemic.
Thank you very much.