Honourable Dr Ratu Atonio Lalabalavu, Minister of Health and Medical Services
Dr Jemesa Tudravu, Permanent Secretary for Health and Medical Services
Ms Nicola Noble, Deputy British High Commissioner
Dr Mark Jacob, WHO Representative to the South Pacific
Dear colleagues,
I am very pleased to be able to address you today at the official launch of the tobacco control Investment Case for Fiji.
Tobacco use is a major problem for public heath and social care in Fiji. More than 1,200 Fijians die every year due to tobacco-related illnesses, accounting for nearly
17%of all deaths in the country.
The costs for Fiji are even more concerning when the economic impacts taken into account, with tobacco costing the country some 2.7% of GDP every year, a staggering cost.
The tobacco control Investment Case for Fiji highlights the economic costs of tobacco in the country as well as the economic benefits that are possible should the recommendations in the investment case be implemented.
The evidence is irrefutable – tobacco kills.
We are also increasingly understanding the negative impact that tobacco has on sustainable development beyond health. Tobacco negatively impacts economic social development, environmental development and economic development. The investment case sets this out in detail.
For this reason, the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, is known as an accelerator for sustainable development. By fully implementing the Convention, countries can realize gains across the entire Sustainable Development Goal agenda.
Fiji was the first low- and middle-income country to ratify the WHO FCTC in 2003. Fiji further demonstrated its commitment to tobacco control by ratifying the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade of Tobacco Products in 2019.
Please let me offer thanks to Fiji for the contributions made as a member of the Bureau for the Protocol for a number of years now. The leadership Fiji provides not only to the region, but to the world is vitally important.
The tobacco control Investment Case demonstrates that by taking a comprehensive and multisectoral approach to tobacco control, Fiji can make enormous gains.
The WHO FCTC is a comprehensive tobacco control treaty, and the obligations in the treaty apply across the whole government, not only to the Ministry of Health and Medical Services. This includes the requirement to implement Article 5.3 of the WHO FCTC – to protect public health from the vested and commercial interests of the tobacco industry.
It is important to recognize the true cost of the tobacco industry, as well as tobacco farming. The tobacco industry claims to make significant contributions to economies, but the reality is the opposite.
Meanwhile, tobacco farmers around the world are taken advantage of, often earning very little for their hard work while quality arable land is degraded. That is why the WHO FCTC includes a specific article to encourage governments to create opportunities for alternative economic activities to help tobacco farmers to transition towards growing healthier and more profitable crops.
It is clear that the problems created by tobacco use are well understood by the Government of Fiji. And I wish to take this opportunity to recognize the efforts that have made to reduce the burden of tobacco in the country. We know that Fiji is ambitious and wishes to continue action to reduce tobacco use, especially by young people.
The Secretariat of the WHO FCTC is pleased to be supporting Fiji’s tobacco control efforts through the country’s participation in our FCTC 2030 development assistance project.
We call on Fiji 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. It is also important that tobacco tax be applied to all tobacco products, including non-cigarette products that are cheaply available such as suki (“soo-key”).
We are confident that this Investment Case will provide the evidence and rationale to guide future policy-making efforts on tobacco, and that the Fiji-specific data and analysis will be useful not only for the Ministry of Health and Medical Services, but for all ministries and stakeholders with a role to play in tobacco control.
I want to urge decision-makers to protect the hard-won advances in public health from the vested and commercial interests of the tobacco industry. This is an industry that has only one objective – to maximize its own profits at any cost.
I am pleased to note that Fiji is already a Party to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products and is committed to working with a growing international community to stamp out illicit trade, strengthening tobacco control efforts globally.
I thank Fiji for joining the project and look forward to continuing to support the achievement of your ambitions for tobacco control, including through the FCTC 2030 project.
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 as our partners in offering tobacco control Investment Cases.
I would also like to thank the governments of Australia, Norway and the United Kingdom for their generous contributions to make the FCTC 2030 project possible.
Thank you.