Dear friends and colleagues, thank you for the opportunity to be part of this important discussion.
As you are all aware, waterpipes have been gaining in popularity over the past two decades, notably among younger people. Among the reasons for this trend are a variety of misconceptions about the safety of waterpipe use, relative to other methods of tobacco smoking.
There is a growing body of peer reviewed evidence strongly indicating that waterpipe smoke is just as harmful to health as cigarette smoke, if not more so.
Waterpipe smoke contains just as many toxins as cigarettes and because charcoal is typically used to achieve combustion, it also contains the carbon monoxide and carcinogens produced by burning that material.
It is also worth noting that waterpipe smokers typically inhale greater volumes of tobacco smoke than cigarette smokers due to the protracted nature of water-pipe smoking sessions, thus exposing them to greater harm.
It will perhaps come as no surprise then to learn that waterpipe use and waterpipe tobacco has long been a focus of Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
We see this focus woven throughout the decisions taken by Parties at different sessions of the Conference of the Parties or COP, the WHO FCTC governing body which meets every two years to review the Treaty’s implementation.
For example, a decision taken during the sixth session of the COP called on Parties to strengthen their implementation of the WHO FCTC in relation to waterpipe tobacco products through the integration of waterpipe prevention and control into their broader tobacco-control measures.
Similarly, a decision taken during COP7 invited Parties to "strictly include waterpipe use in the ban of tobacco use in public places as per Article 8 of the WHO FCTC", which requires the adoption of effective measures to protect people from exposure to tobacco smoke in indoor workplaces, indoor public places, on public transport, and where appropriate in other public places.
The banning of waterpipe use in public places not only reduces people’s exposure to tobacco smoke, it also sends a clear message to the public regarding the harms water pipes cause, countering false notions and messaging regarding their supposed safety, and denormalizing their use.
This kind of messaging is considered crucial to advancing the tobacco control agenda, as explicitly addressed in Article 12 of the Convention which calls for the use of all available communication tools to promote and strengthen public awareness of tobacco control issues.
The Convention is clear on this issue then, and the Parties to it can be in no doubt as to harms caused by waterpipe use.
The guidelines for the implementation of Article 8 indicate that “each Party should strive to provide universal protection within five years of the entry into force of the WHO FCTC for that Party”. How many Parties to the WHO FCTC have seen this deadline come and go without action?
Waterpipe control was certainly possible during the COVID-19 pandemic where we saw 17 countries during that period banning its use in public places for the first time. I call upon all countries to continue to strengthen their policies in this regard.
These COVID-inspired bans on waterpipe use in public places have likely contributed to saving lives during the pandemic, but they have to be kept in place if more lives are to be saved, not just of smokers but of the many non-smokers who would otherwise be exposed to tobacco smoke.
So, I congratulate you and I pledge our continued support to all the Parties in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, and of course worldwide. We do not underestimate the size or the complexity of the challenges you face, and we stand firmly behind you in meeting them, with resources that include the Knowledge Hub for Waterpipe Tobacco Smoking, based at the American University of Beirut, in Lebanon, as well as an upcoming publication being developed by the Convention Secretariat on how to include waterpipes in tobacco control legislation.
Thank you for your kind attention and I wish you a productive conference.
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