The challenges facing implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control: a symposium

12 DECEMBER 2016 - A Symposium organized in Barcelona has reviewed the implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) with particular focus on identifying its achievements and examining the loopholes, barriers, and new challenges it faces for the future.

The organizer of the event is the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO), the youngest WHO collaborating center in Europe that focuses on tobacco control. Co-organizers of the symposium are the Ministry of Health of the Government of Catalonia, WHO Regional Office for Europe and the European Network for Smoking and Tobacco Prevention (ENSP), an Observer to the Conference of the Parties. In their symposium literature the organizers stated that “the spread of the tobacco epidemic is facilitated through a variety of complex factors with cross-border effects, including trade liberalization and direct foreign investment. Other factors such as global marketing, transnational tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, and the international movement of contraband and counterfeit cigarettes have also contributed to the explosive increase in tobacco use.”

The speaker at the opening session was Dr Tibor Szilagyi, Team Leader, Reporting and Knowledge Management, Convention Secretariat WHO FCTC, and his remarks were directed to the effectiveness of the Convention, now in its second decade of implementation.

Ahead of his presentation Dr Szilagyi said, “There is need for heightened awareness of tobacco industry interference. In fact this interference in tobacco control policies is what Parties most frequently mention as barrier for implementation. Stronger intersectoral cooperation is also crucial to improve efficiency of the Convention.”

Dr Szilagyi also stressed the need for political support and will to be sustained if the Convention is to reach its full potential. The outcomes of the most recent, seventh session of the Conference of the Parties, he said, are paramount in facilitating this effort.

The WHO FCTC is an evidence-based treaty that reaffirms the right of all people to the highest standard of health. The WHO FCTC was developed in response to the globalization of the tobacco epidemic.

Around 90 experts from Spain and 10 international experts gathered in Barcelona to discuss issues around the further implementation of the WHO FCTC.