Honorable Ministers, Excellencies and Colleagues;
I am delighted to address you on behalf of the Secretariat of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control or WHO FCTC.
The Convention Secretariat has been an independent member of the UN Interagency Task Force on NCDs since its creation and the implementation of the Convention has been one of the factors helping to drive down the risk of dying from a major NCD to the current levels.
And the WHO FCTC has been globally recognized as an accelerator for sustainable development
But we have seen that tobacco users and NCD sufferers have been the worst affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Still amidst the pandemic, as the new 2021 UN ECOSOC Resolution highlights, countries need to strengthen their regulatory and legal frameworks to reduce the burden of NCDs.
And this includes the achievement of SDG Target 3.a, regarding comprehensive implementation of the WHO FCTC, to decrease the prevalence of tobacco use by one-third by 2030.
And one of the main obstacles for that is the interference of the Tobacco industry.
Today, this industry is trying to portray itself as a development partner.
Let’s not fool ourselves, this is the same industry that makes a product that kills 8 million people a year worldwide – an industry that continues to produce, market and sell their deadly products, while at the same time claiming that they are now concerned about public health, and actually have the solution, rather than being, as they are, the cause of the problem.
We have seen such maneuvers from the tobacco industry in the past.
We, together with the whole UN family, must keep the tobacco industry from interfering in our own public health policies.
And I urge UN Member States that are Parties to the WHO FCTC to fully implement the Convention, including the measures to prevent such tobacco industry interference.
Finally, I welcome the establishment of the new UN Multi-Partner Trust Fund to support countries to ramp up action on NCDs and mental health and I remind countries that tobacco taxes, as well as taxes on other unhealthy commodities, can generate much-needed revenue for building back better post-COVID19.
Let’s keep working together to attain the goal of a healthy and sustainable world for all.