Mr Roland Driece, Vice-President of the Bureau of the Conference of the Parties
Dr Gauden Galea, Strategic Adviser to the Regional Director, Special Initiative on NCDs and Innovation, WHO/Europe
Good morning and warm welcome to everyone.
It is indeed a pleasure to address all of you on this landmark occasion as we begin the critical work for the Tenth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
The meeting – the “COP10” – is just two months away, and, as you know, there is a huge amount of work to be undertaken so that we can achieve our ambitious agenda in Panama in November
The worst of the COVID-19 pandemic is – hopefully – behind us, and we can once again benefit from a close-proximity meeting to discuss this other pandemic, the tobacco pandemic.
So, what’s on the agenda?
Well, we will of course be looking in detail at implementation of the Convention.
We have made progress, but this is a huge task, and we must keep pushing the boulder uphill.
Of course, I know how far we’ve come –I also know that it’s a very long way, – but we must fix our eyes upward, towards our goal.
As always, that includes a focus on Article 5.3, the gold standard for all those with a genuine interest in keeping tobacco industry interference outside any room where decisions are made to protect and enhance health.
I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the Convention Secretariat has noted with concern that some Parties have been approached by the tobacco and other industry representatives, to offer travel and technical support, including advisors, for their official delegations for COP10 and MOP3. I would like to take this opportunity to remind Parties of the irreconcilable conflict between the tobacco industry’s interests and public health policy interests. We should protect the integrity of the Convention at all costs and observe Article 5.3 of the WHO FCTC. We must remain vigilant.
By doing so, we help the world move towards achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, keeping in mind that strengthening the WHO FCTC implementation is one of the means of implementation of SDG 3 on health and wellbeing
I’m speaking to a very well-informed audience, I know, but I must finish up by reiterating two things.
First, we must accelerate implementation of the WHO FCTC.
I realize you’ve heard this many times before, but please ask yourself: “What more can we do?”
Sometimes it is easy to become lost in the details of our work, and forget exactly what the point is.
The point is the death and the misery and the terrible strain on health-care systems that tobacco creates. And the environmental damage…
Every step forward in implementing highly effective measures in the WHO FCTC and the Protocol actually saves lives, avoids terrible illnesses, and saves money and protects our planet.
Perhaps the most important thing for those engaged in the tobacco pandemic response is to ensure that everything is joined up.
By that I mean ensuring that the whole-of-government approach we hear mentioned so often actually does bring different ministries and groups together for joint action.
For example, it means the Ministry of Health talking to the Ministry of Finance about tax rises and the need to resist tobacco industry pressure…together, for the benefit of the people.
The more we talk to one another, the more effective we are.
The Convention Secretariat stands ready to work with the WHO Regional Office for Europe and its partners to support Parties in the Region.
I wish you well in your work and look forward to seeing you in Panama City.
Thank you.