Dear President, distinguished delegates, colleagues and friends.
It has been a great pleasure to gather together face to face – with over 140 Parties – for the Tenth session of the Conference of the Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
Despite the challenges of the past few months, we made it here to beautiful Panama City, where the COP took important decisions:
- Two expert groups were established – one to work on forward-looking tobacco control measures under Article 2.1, and another to focus on Article 19, which concerns liability.
- The Global Strategy to Accelerate Tobacco Control 2019–2025 was extended for five more years, so that it fully aligns with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
- Improvements agreed upon for the WHO FCTC reporting system will not only strengthen the quality of the data on implementation of the Convention, but also will improve efficiency by avoiding the duplication of data already collected by WHO.
- Last, but not least, this COP adopted an historic decision on Article 18, urging Parties to take account of the environmental impacts arising from the cultivation, manufacture, consumption of tobacco products, as well as the waste they create, and to strengthen implementation of this Article, including through national policies related to tobacco and protection of the environment.
The Panama Declaration adopted here at COP10 further reminds us of the fundamental and irreconcilable conflict between the interests of the tobacco industry and the interests of public health policy.
The Declaration also makes clear that policy coherence within governments is critical to compliance with the requirements of Article 5.3 of the WHO FCTC in order to protect policies from the commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry.
I would like to call your attention to the fact that for the very first time, we were joined by young activists from around the world.
On behalf of all of us present here, I want to thank them for the much-needed determination, ingenuity and optimism that they bring to our common fight against the tobacco epidemic.
I would like to quote – for everyone listening today – a line from the published statement of these young activists:
“The interests of the tobacco industry, or even of smokers, should never serve as justification for legitimizing products that could send even a single child down the path of addiction.”
Their presence at this COP reminds each of us of the reason why we gather every two years – to protect present and future generations from the devastating health, social, environmental and economic consequences of tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco smoke .
Delegates from youth organizations, please, I invite you to stand up.
Distinguished delegates and colleagues, meet the guardians of the future!
Let’s give them a well-deserved round of applause.
Ladies and gentlemen, the achievements I have mentioned were only possible thanks to the work of so many people.
First I want to thank Panama for its professionalism in organizing this conference. They have been working tirelessly in order to provide this impeccable meeting.
Also I want to thank the colleagues that are not so visible, but play a crucial role:
- The interpreters who allowed us to not only communicate, but cooperate.
- The translators who worked tirelessly to produce documents in six languages, working not only during the day but throughout the night.
- The records officers, report writers and editors who helped prepare the documents that you have received over the past couple of days – and months.
- The logistics and security teams and IT technicians who toiled without complaint to support our daily work in this beautiful Convention Center.
- And a shout-out to the Convention Center’s local support staff, they kept us organized, on track and well fed, with delicious and nutritious food that our host provided this entire week.
I also would like to extend my gratitude to the reporters and broadcasters who have traveled from near and far to increase awareness – all around the world – about the harms of the tobacco to our people and our planet.
Their reporting has helped inform the international community about our collective efforts this week to develop a comprehensive and sustainable game plan that will bring about the future our children deserve.
I cannot conclude these remarks without giving a big thank you to the Secretariat team and our colleagues from WHO, who have accompanied us throughout this journey. I am proud of your enthusiasm and dedication that made this week possible.
Thank you, distinguished delegates, for your passion and dedication to strengthening tobacco control measures and demonstrating our unwavering commitment to the Convention – and to a healthy, tobacco-free future for all of us.
I look forward to seeing many of you next week at the Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products.
For those that are not yet Parties to the Protocol, I urge you to consider joining this effort, born from the WHO FCTC itself.
I wish you safe travels home.
Thank you.