Distinguished delegates, colleagues and friends.
Good morning,
I would like to thank Dr Adelheid Onyango, Director of the Universal Health Coverage/ Healthier Populations Cluster in the African Region, and Dr Yonas Tegegn, WHO Country Representative to Uganda, for opening this meeting so eloquently. My appreciation goes to the WHO Regional Office for Africa and the WHO Country Office in Uganda for all the efforts put into making this meeting happen.
It is a great pleasure to address you all today as we begin the critical groundwork for the Tenth session of the Conference of the Parties to the WHO FCTC and the Third session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products.
Both meetings, the COP10 and the MOP3, are now just a month away and, as you know, there is a huge amount of work to be completed so that we can achieve our ambitious agendas in Panama in November.
Once more, we will be able to benefit from an in-person session of the COP and of the MOP to fully discuss the tobacco epidemic and the tailored measures that are key to address it.
All these efforts will also contribute to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, including SDG Target 3.a to strengthen WHO FCTC implementation.
So, what’s on the agenda of COP10? Well, we will of course be looking in detail at implementation of the WHO FCTC. We have made progress, but this is a huge task and we must keep pushing forward. We will also be discussing ways to improve the reporting system for the Convention– the aim is to simplify the process where possible, without compromising on the quality and richness of Party reports.
Coming back to the COP10 agenda, Parties will be able to pick up on discussions related to novel and emerging tobacco products, implementation of Articles 9 and 10 – regulation of contents and disclosure of tobacco products, and Article 13 – depiction of tobacco in entertainment media, the implementation review mechanism, as well as items proposed by Parties related to implementation of Article 2.1 and Article 19. There will also be an agenda item proposed by a Party on the contribution of the WHO FCTC to the promotion and fulfilment of human rights.
On the resources front, we are seeking other ways to broaden funding for tobacco control. That’s the thinking behind the WHO FCTC Investment Fund and the Investment Fund to support the implementation of the Protocol. There is a proposal to establish a single Oversight Committee for both funds, under the direction of the separate two separate governing bodies. This would enable management synergies between the funds.
I am pleased to recall that 22 countries in the Region have so far become Parties to the Protocol. At the same time, I seize the opportunity to offer a gentle reminder that we all need to accelerate the process to fight against illicit trade in tobacco products. And the first step in doing so is for Parties to the WHO FCTC to become Party to the Protocol. The strength and success of the Protocol lie in the cooperation that can be established among its Parties to effectively tackle this issue.
Last month, the global information-sharing focal point was made available to Parties to the Protocol to use for the purpose of detection or investigation of illicit trade in tobacco products, further securing their supply chain. Let me reiterate that illicit products, which are usually cheaper, increase the availability and affordability of tobacco products, and hurt public treasuries which lose important revenues.
More details will be offered on tracking and tracing and other Protocol issues at the Preparatory meeting for the Third session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol, tomorrow.
I trust that I speak to a very well-informed audience. However, allow me to conclude with two points.
First, we must accelerate implementation of the WHO FCTC and the Protocol. I realise you have heard this many times before, but please ask yourself, ‘What more can we do?’. It is sometimes easy to become lost in the detail of our work, and to forget what the final aim is.
The objective is to prevent the death and the misery, and the terrible strain on health care systems that tobacco use creates. Every step forward in implementing our highly effective measures saves lives and promotes sustainable development.
Second, as with all tobacco control efforts, it is key to ensure collaboration across different government sectors.
In that respect, the Convention Secretariat has been busy building relationships with other competent international governmental bodies, such as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the World Customs Organization and INTERPOL, to help further our work in implementing the Protocol. I urge you to also do the same in your respective jurisdictions to help build these cross-sector synergies.
Before I close, 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 that there is a fundamental and irreconcilable conflict between the tobacco industry’s interests and public health policy interests. We should protect the integrity of the WHO FCTC and the Protocol at all costs and observe Article 5.3 of the WHO FCTC and relevant provisions of the Protocol. We must remain vigilant.
Finally, the Convention Secretariat stands ready to work with the African Region to support countries in the Region.
I wish you well in your preparatory work for COP10 and MOP3, as well as fruitful discussions during the high-level meeting on the implementation of tobacco control in the African Region that will follow later this week.
I very much look forward to seeing you in Panama.
Thank you.