Welcome to the United Nations
a)An assessment of the situation regarding the principle of “ensuring that no one is left behind” at the global level
Tobacco use, driven by industry marketing and fuelled by social inequities, is killing 6 million people per year, inhibiting socio-economic development at household, national and global levels, exacting economic burdens on national health care systems, infringing human rights and obstructing progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) . The tobacco industry and the deadly impact of its products cost the world’s economies more than US$ 1 trillion annually in healthcare expenditures and lost productivity, while global tobacco excise taxes generated nearly 269 billion U.S. dollars (US$) in government revenues in 2013–2014. Of this, governments spent a combined total of less than US$ 1 billion on tobacco control .
The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) is the only international public health treaty in the 21 century. This international convention inspires and informs the United Nations to work on global tobacco control. This “blueprint” for tobacco control policies is an evidence-based treaty that reaffirms the right of all people to the highest standard of health. There are currently 180 Parties to the Convention, which together include more than 90% of the world’s population. The global answer to curtail the tobacco epidemic is full implementation of WHO FCTC.
In 2015, a successful campaign by the Convention Secretariat and others led to the inclusion of Target 3.a in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, requiring the strengthening of WHO FCTC implementation. Similar efforts in partnership with World Health Organization (WHO) at the Addis Ababa Financing for Development meeting secured an agreement that tobacco taxation should be
a key source of funds for achieving the SDGs.
Under its guiding principles, the WHO FCTC recognizes that strong political commitment is necessary to develop and support comprehensive multisectoral measures and coordinated responses, taking into consideration the need: (a) to take measures to protect all persons from exposure to tobacco smoke; (b) to take measures to prevent the initiation, to promote and support cessation, and to decrease the consumption of tobacco products in any form; (c) to take measures to promote the participation of indigenous individuals and communities in the development, implementation and evaluation of tobacco control programmes that are socially and culturally appropriate to their needs and perspectives; and (d) to take measures to address gender-specific risks when developing tobacco control strategies.
Implementation of the Convention has progressed steadily since entry into force in 2005. More than half the world’s countries, representing nearly 40% of the world’s population, have implemented at least one of the WHO FCTC’s most cost-effective measures to the highest level. However, progress appears uneven between different articles of the Convention, with average implementation rates varying from less than 20% to 88%.
As was observed in the previous WHO FCTC reporting cycle, Article 8 (Protection from exposure to tobacco smoke), Article 11 (Packaging and labelling of tobacco products), and Article 16 (Sales to and by minors) achieved the highest implementation rates reported in 2016. Article 17 (Provision of support for economically viable alternative activities), Article 18 (Protection of the environment and the health of persons) and Article 19 (Liability), seem to have remained the three least implemented articles. However, their average implementation apparently improved as compared to 2014, which was also observed with Article 6 (Price and tax measures to reduce the demand for tobacco) and Article 15 (Illicit trade in tobacco products) .
The first signs of a general downward trend in tobacco use prevalence among Parties now seem to be emerging, according to analyses by WHO and the impact assessment expert group established by the Conference of the Parties (COP). These findings have also been supported by the latest prevalence data provided by the Parties in the 2016 reporting cycle. At the same time, WHO projections show that most Parties need to accelerate tobacco control activities in order to achieve the global noncommunicable disease (NCD) target to reduce tobacco use by 30% between 2010 and 2025. Some Parties are expected to experience increases in smoking prevalence if effective policies are not urgently established.
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