WHO FCTC Celebrates 20 Years of Signing a Historic Tobacco Control Treaty

Even though the industry continues to face obstacles, the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) is celebrating 20 years of saving millions of lives.

When the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), the first legally enforceable global health treaty of its type, went into effect, the world took a historic stride in the battle against tobacco.

The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), the first legally enforceable global health treaty of its type, will celebrate its 20th anniversary on February 27 with policymakers throughout the world. The merchant of death continues to operate freely despite a treaty that saved lives.

183 Parties are legally obligated to protect public health from the tobacco pandemic; making it one of the most extensively approved international accords twenty years later. The FCTC has had a revolutionary effect. Millions of lives have been saved as a result of 75% of its members putting at least part of its provisions into practice.

For example, governments have implemented laws requiring cigarette packs to be simple and devoid of branding (plain packaging), banned all forms of cigarette advertising to the extent that major social media platforms have algorithms to avoid tobacco advertisements, raised tobacco taxes and are able to point to a benchmark rate, and introduced graphic health warnings and can refer to a global database of warnings.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) has supported tobacco control measures, which were formerly considered to be a catalyst for global trade conflicts. Public health has taken precedence over the tobacco multinational's rights to its brand name and the ability to sue governments as foreign investors, according to the FCTC's authority.

Less than half of the Parties have put Article 5.3 measures to limit industrial involvement into effect, despite the FCTC being almost universally adopted. However, when implemented, these measures have been successful in preventing the promotion of tobacco-funded COVID-19 vaccinations as corporate social responsibility (CSR).