Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Prevention, Public Health and Primary Care, Jo Churchill
Colleagues from the Department of Health and Social Care, colleagues from the World Health Organization and the United Nations Interagency Task Force on NCDs:
Good morning from the Secretariat of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
It is a pleasure to be joining you today for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland’s No Smoking Day.
We are very pleased that the United Kingdom has been awarded a 2020 United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force Award recognizing the UK’s role in the global prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases.
The award recognizes the UK’s commitment to tackling tobacco use in low- and middle-income countries – through the FCTC 2030 project.
This project was established with generous official development assistance funding from the UK Government, and is today also funded by Australia and Norway.
Through FCTC 2030, which is implemented by the Convention Secretariat in partnership with the UN Development Programme and WHO, we are supporting the implementation of key tobacco control policies in 24 low- and middle-income countries around the globe.
The project is helping countries implement the evidence-based measures set out in the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control – or WHO FCTC as we call it.
These measures have been implemented in the UK as a part of a comprehensive tobacco control approach and have contributed to the sustained reductions in smoking prevalence that the UK has seen over the past two decades.
International cooperation is the cornerstone of the WHO FCTC and the FCTC 2030 project has facilitated sharing the UK’s experience as one of the world’s leaders in tobacco control.
We know that the UK Government is considering a new tobacco control plan, and I hope that in this new strategy the UK will be able again to set out an ongoing commitment to global tobacco control through support for the WHO FCTC.
On behalf of the Convention Secretariat, and the 24 FCTC 2030 project countries, we express our congratulations on your award and our thanks for your generous support.
Thank you