Andrew Black, Acting Head of the Secretariat of the WHO FCTC, and Reina Roa, President of the COP11, at the opening press conference.
Global health leaders are calling for robust new measures to combat the use of tobacco and related products, including restrictions on flavours to curb the surge in e-cigarettes use in adolescents and filter bans to protect the environment.
These and other proposals will be debated over the
next two weeks as over 1,400 delegates representing governments, international
organisations and civil society gather in Geneva for the world health
organization’s (who) framework
convention on tobacco control (fctc).
“the meeting will bring the world together to energize
international cooperation and foster political will to address the global
tobacco epidemic. Well over seven
million people die each year because of tobacco,” said Andrew
Black, acting head of the who fctc secretariat, at the opening press conference
for the 11th conference of parties (cop11).
The fctc provides a binding legal framework and a
package of control measures for the parties. Since it came into force 20 years
ago, significant progress has been made. Today, over 75% of the global
population – more than 6.1 billion people – are covered by at
least one of the who’s MPOWER tobacco control measures, which are a
set of cost-effective technical recommendations designed to reduce tobacco use.
“since the fctc came into effect, tobacco use has
declined by a third worldwide, despite the tobacco industry’s efforts to
undermine it,” noted who director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
New products undermine successes
But this progress is facing increasing challenges as
the tobacco industry markets new
nicotine products such as e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products
and nicotine pouches – all of which are now widely available in many countries.
Data presented by the who shows that, on average,
e-cigarette use among adolescents aged 13 to 15 is nine times more prevalent
than among adults in the same country.
Health bodies and researchers claim that the
industry’s focus on sweet and fruity flavours, bright packaging and social
media promotion is designed to
attract young consumers.
The regulation of these new products is lagging. By
the end of 2024, 62 countries still had no policy in place regarding electronic
nicotine delivery systems (ends) and 74 countries had no minimum age for
purchasing e-cigarettes. Only seven countries ban all characterising flavours
in ends, excluding those that prohibit sales entirely.
The fctc will address the obligation of parties to
prevent and reduce nicotine addiction for the first time, said Kate Lannan, senior
lawyer to the secretariat of the who fctc.
The cop11 agenda includes robust regulatory proposals.
High-level discussions are expected on extending existing regulations or bans
on flavours across all products and member countries, and on holding the
industry legally responsible for causing harm to public health.
“this is the first time the conference of the parties
will be specifically addressing the obligation of parties to prevent and reduce nicotine addiction,“ said Kate Lannon,
senior lawyer at the who FCTC secretariat, with regard to evolving nicotine
addiction among young people.
Protecting the environment will also be a focus. There
are growing concerns over cigarette filters, which are made of cellulose
acetate, a type of single-use plastic. The who and several member states,
including the Netherlands, are urging
parties to consider banning filters altogether.
They argue that this would reduce toxic pollution and
address the misconception among consumers that filters substantially reduce
health risks.
“these filters on cigarettes don’t provide any
meaningful increase in the safety of cigarettes,“ explained Fctc’s secretary
black.
Delegates will also discuss implementing a levy for
environmental damage or establishing extended producer responsibility (EPR)
measures to collect funds to mitigate environmental harms across the entire
tobacco product life cycle. Negotiations on increasing taxes on tobacco
products are expected to continue.
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