Tag: COP10

  • Former WHO Officials Highlight Key THR Strategy

    Former WHO Officials Highlight Key THR Strategy

    Photo: Alexander Ovsyannikov

    Harm reduction should be a central strategy of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in addition to the measures for demand and supply reduction, according to Robert Beaglehole and Ruth Bonita.

    Writing in The Lancet, the two former World Health Organization directors argue that while the FCTC has been influential in encouraging a global response to tobacco control, it has been challenging to show a strong and consistent association between the implementation of FCTC measures and smoking prevalence and cigarette consumption outcomes.

    The FCTC does not prohibit harm reduction approaches but leaves it up to member states to decide how to regulate e-cigarettes and other novel nicotine products. The WHO’s lack of endorsement of tobacco harm reduction limits healthier choices for the 1.3 billion people globally who smoke and who are at an increased risk of early death, according to Beaglehole and Bonita.

    The authors note that there is no scientific justification for WHO’s position that e-cigarettes and other novel nicotine products should be treated in the same way as tobacco products. This position, they argue, overlooks a risk-proportionate approach.

    “We believe WHO needs to provide positive leadership and technical support to countries as they consider the use of e-cigarettes and other nicotine delivery devices,” the authors write. “WHO’s current approach to these lower-risk product is to reward countries, such as India, for banning e-cigarettes; thirty-four countries, primarily low-income and middle-income countries, now ban e-cigarettes.”

    Beaglehole and Bonita note that, in some countries, substantial reductions in smoking prevalence have coincided with the uptake of novel nicotine products. In New Zealand, for example, the prevalence of adult daily smoking plummeted from 13.3 percent in 2017–2018 to 6.8 percent in 2022–2023 after e-cigarettes became widely available, a 49 percent decline in five years.

    In the same period, and with the support of the government and regulation of vaping, the prevalence of adult daily vaping increased from 2.6 percent to 9.7 percent. New Zealand’s recent decline in smoking occurred in the absence of any other major tobacco control policy, apart from the annual cost-of-living price increases, according to the authors. “The decrease in smoking during this period in New Zealand shows what can be achieved, and exceeds the WHO smoking prevalence reduction goals of 30 percent over 15 years from 2010 to 2025,” they write.

    The New Zealand 2022 smoke-free legislation includes a “tobacco-free generation”, a 90 percent reduction in smoked tobacco retail outlets, and compulsory denicotinization of retail tobacco. The New Zealand government, elected in November 2023, is committed to reaching the Smokefree 2025 goal of 5 percent (or less) smoking prevalence for the adult population, but intends to repeal the 2022 smoke-free legislation.

    However, because of the implementation timelines, fears that this repeal would jeopardize the Smokefree 2025 goal can be allayed, according to Beaglehole and Bonita. This is because none of the three headline measures would be expected to have an impact before 2025 and might have had negative unintended consequences. “Based on recent progress, New Zealand’s Smokefree 2025 goal looks likely to be reached by consent rather than coercion and by further support for switching to smoke-free nicotine products,” the authors note.

    Beaglehole and Bonita also highlight the success of other high-income countries in reducing smoking prevalence in association with the use of a range of lower-risk nicotine delivery devices to complement FCTC demand and supply reduction measures.

    Sweden, with a long tradition of snus use, has the lowest prevalence of adult daily smoking in the world, down to 6 percent in 2022, accompanied by low mortality from tobacco-related diseases.

    Norway has had similar success with reducing smoking prevalence in the context of increased use of snus and e-cigarettes, and in England vaping is helping adults to quit smoking. The substantial decline in cigarette consumption in Japan is associated with the rapid uptake of products that heat, rather than burn, tobacco.

    Less progress has been made in low-income and middle-income countries where tobacco control capacity and political will to advance tobacco control measures are weaker, and the potential of tobacco harm reduction is not being realized, according to the authors.

    Beaglehole and Bonita say two concerns suggest why tobacco harm reduction is not more actively embraced, despite its association with reduced smoking prevalence. The first is that, compared with cigarettes, where the damage has been known for more than half a century, the long-term effects of e-cigarettes are unknown.

    Although vaping may not be risk-free, especially for people who do not smoke, the risks of there being substantial long-term harm from the constituents of e-cigarettes are likely to be low, especially when compared with the damage caused by smoked tobacco, the authors point out.

    The second concern is that the widespread availability of e-cigarettes in the absence of adequate controls and regulations encourages youth nicotine dependence and enables the vaping industry to act unethically. Beaglehole and Bonita say there is little evidence to suggest that vaping leads to smoking among youth, and although the proportion of non-smoking youth who vape is increasing, it remains at a fairly low level.

    Stricter regulations, including enforcing sales restrictions, and appropriate health promoting campaigns are needed to prevent vaping by young people, according to the authors, but these measures must be balanced with the health needs of older adults who smoke and require support to quit.

    Beaglehole and Bonita acknowledge that there is understandable skepticism about the motives of the tobacco industry in selling smoke-free products while continuing to expand tobacco markets in low-income and middle-income countries. To remain profitable, they say, the tobacco industry will eventually need to migrate its global business to less harmful alternatives since cigarettes will no longer monopolize the delivery of nicotine.

    The authors express concern about the recommendations, found in COP10 background papers, to treat nicotine products as equivalent to cigarettes and regulating them in a similar way. This approach, they argue, is a retrograde step because they are not comparable products in terms of the damage they cause; after all, it is the burning of tobacco that causes harm, not nicotine. Worse, such a strategy would ultimately favor the global cigarette market and may discourage vaping, according to Beaglehole and Bonita.

    The focus, they insist, must remain on the central public health problem—the damaging health effects of tobacco consumption. “Reducing cigarette smoking is the most effective way to prevent tobacco-related deaths and tobacco harm reduction is the fastest and fairest way to lower smoking prevalence,” the authors write.

    “WHO needs to embrace these innovations in nicotine delivery. Countries that are reaping the benefit of tobacco harm reduction, such as New Zealand, Sweden, Norway, England and Japan, should encourage participating countries at COP10 to support proposals that will quickly reduce smoking rates. The world’s 1.3 billion people who smoke, half of whom will die early, deserve this leadership.”

     

  • Health Department Wants Stricter Vape Rules

    Health Department Wants Stricter Vape Rules

    Image: Oleksii

    The Philippines Department of Health (DOH) is gathering data on vaping prevalence in the country, reports Malaya Business Insight.

     DOH Undersecretary Eric Tayag said the information will be used to convince policymakers to strengthen laws against vaping.

    According to the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS), e-cigarette users among the youth increased from 11.7 percent in 2015 to 24.5 percent in 2019.

    The DOH statement comes after nine former health officials called on the Philippine delegation to the 10th Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP10) of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) to take the lead in pushing for the fight against vapes and electronic cigarettes.

    The former DOH secretaries and undersecretaries believe the Philippine delegation should speak about the serious threat to public health brought about by weak Philippine regulations on e-cigarettes and vapes.

  • Taxpayers Group Holds ‘Counter COP’ in Panama

    Taxpayers Group Holds ‘Counter COP’ in Panama

    Photo: TPA

    Concurrent with the 10the Conference of the Parties (COP10) to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which takes place in Panama City this week, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) is hosting an event at the Central Hotel Panama under the name “Good Cop/Bad Cop.” The event will be livestreamed on TPA’s YouTube channel.

    Good COP will feature nearly two dozen tobacco harm reduction experts, representing 14 different countries and highlighting some of the leading experts on consumer issues, national and global policies, and the science surrounding harm reduction.

    Throughout the event, TPA and the Good COP participants will be monitoring the WHO’s meeting and providing running commentary via livestreams, media interviews, blogs, and social media.

    “The taxpayer-funded WHO ignores science and puts billions of smokers at risk of not having access to life-saving technology to quit smoking,” said TPA’s President, David William in a statement.

    “The participants of Good COP will hold the WHO accountable for denying life-saving access to tobacco harm reduction products and denying access to the public and media to these meetings. “In real time, harm reduction experts from around the globe will be fact-checking and providing commentary on the WHO’s anti-science agenda at COP10.”

  • COP10 Opens With Warning Against New Products

    COP10 Opens With Warning Against New Products

    Image: SL-Photography

    Delegates from around the world gathered in Panama City on Feb 5. to open the 10th Conference of the Parties (COP10) to the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, (FCTC).

    Adriana Blanco Marquizo, head of the of the FCTC Secretariat welcomed attendees and warned of the increasing availability of novel and emerging nicotine and tobacco products.

    These are, “becoming a very troubling problem with an alarming increase in the use of these products by young people,” Blanco Marquizo said in her opening address.

    “Part of this increase is due to disingenuous tobacco industry messages portraying these products as a replacement for real tobacco control measures, as the industry again tries to claim a seat at the table—as part of the solution to an epidemic that the industry created and continues to sustain.”

    She also asked everyone to be alert to what she described as “the relentless interference of the tobacco industry in every corner of the world.”

    At COP10, delegates will consider a wide range of work to direct the FCTC in its work.

    Discussions at COP10 will include:

    • Implementation of FCTC Articles 9 and 10 (Regulation of contents and disclosure of tobacco products): reports by the Bureau, by the Expert Group and by the WHO 
    • Tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship: depiction of tobacco in entertainment media: report by the Working Group  
    • Novel and emerging tobacco products
    • Forward-looking tobacco control measures (in relation to FCTC Article 2.1)
    • Implementation of FCTC Article 19, which relates to liability
    • Improving the reporting system of the FCTC 
    • Implementation Review Mechanism 
    • Contribution of the FCTC to the promotion and fulfilment of human rights
    • The FCTC Investment Fund

    COP10 runs from today until Saturday Feb. 10.

    It is followed by the third Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products, Feb. 12-15, 2024. 

  • COP10 Kicks Off This Week, Industry Not Invited

    COP10 Kicks Off This Week, Industry Not Invited

    Tobacco growers demanding to be heard during COP4 (Photo: ITGA)

    The parties to the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control will meet this week in Panama for their 10th gathering (COP10). Originally scheduled for November 2023, the event was postponed to Feb 5-10, 2024, due to civil unrest in the host country.

    Experts who have been following the preparations expect debates this week about the “tobacco endgame,” which includes nicotine reduction, retailer quotas and generational tobacco purchasing bans. They also anticipate talks on contents and emissions testing and measurements, filters and ventilation, and pricing and tax increases.

    In the runup to the event, documents have been released for discussions about extending advertising/sponsorship restrictions to corporate campaigns and newer media; supporting anti-tobacco litigation; and discouraging industry diversification into pharmaceuticals and other areas. Also on the agenda: a proposal to redefine aerosol from tobacco-heating products as smoke—a move that critics have described as an attempt to rewrite basic scientific principles.

    In addition, the COP delegates will consider recognizing tobacco control as fundamental to the right to health, clearing the way to attack the industry as a violator of human rights and subject it to additional liability. Participants in the Panama event will likely also debate emerging evidence on new products. They may push for e-cigarettes and tobacco-heating products to be regulated like combustible cigarettes, a development that critics say is not based on science and would discourage the tobacco harm reduction efforts that have been underway in many countries.

    Industry officials, grower representatives and consumer groups have criticized the COP for its exclusionary practices and what they view as a prohibitionist agenda. While FCTC Article 5.3 instructs member states to protect policymaking from undue industry influence, critics say this provision has been used as an excuse to shut down all communications.

    “The [FCTC] treaty, which came into force in 2003 and held its first COP in 2005, originally had the very legitimate aim of controlling tobacco consumption in order to counter its harmful effects on health,” said Jose Javier Aranda, president of the International Tobacco Growers Association, in a statement.  

    “Since then, its objectives have been radically modified. Throughout the treaty’s long history, tobacco growers and their legitimate representatives at global level, the International Tobacco Growers’ Association have observed an increase in the radicalization of the methods applied by the FCTC, in which exclusion and lack of transparency have set the tone.”

    “At COP10, decisions are being made without the input of those most affected—the consumers. This exclusion is unacceptable. Harm reduction saves lives, and it’s imperative that this is recognized and integrated into global tobacco control policies, said Michael Landl, director of the World Vapers’ Alliance, in a statement.

    “By sidelining the voices of those directly impacted, the WHO FCTC is ignoring a fundamental human rights issue,” said Nancy Loucas, executive coordinator of The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates. “Individuals seeking to protect their loved ones and themselves from the harms of smoking are being denied access to less harmful alternatives. This is not just a failure in policy but a failure in compassion.”

    COP10 will be followed the third session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco, Feb 12-15.

  • Activists Criticize Exclusionary Tactics at COP10 

    Activists Criticize Exclusionary Tactics at COP10 

    Photo: Alexey Novikov

    The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) today issued a sharp critique of the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) for its exclusion of consumer groups and harm reduction advocates from the 10th Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP10).  

     “CAPHRA argues that this exclusionary practice is in stark contrast to the successful, pragmatic approaches of countries like New Zealand, the Philippines and Malaysia, which have embraced vaping as a harm reduction tool,” said Nancy Loucas, a public health policy expert and passionate advocate for tobacco harm reduction and executive coordinator of CAPHRA. 

    The press release condemns the COP10 meetings for silencing the voices of those who advocate for harm reduction strategies, such as vaping, which have been shown to significantly reduce smoking prevalence in countries where they are available and regulated. 

     CAPHRA points out that the prohibitionist approach of countries like Australia, which recently banned vaping products, is not in the best interest of public health. 

     “CAPHRA calls on FCTC officials to open their minds to harm reduction and to consider the evidence from countries like New Zealand, where smoking rates have decreased due to the availability of regulated vaping products,” said Loucas. 

    The organization stresses the importance of including consumer groups in the decisionmaking process, as they provide essential insights into the needs of smokers and how alternative products can be used effectively. 

  • COP Must Respect Science, Consumers: Tax Group

    COP Must Respect Science, Consumers: Tax Group

    Martin Cullip

    The Taxpayers Protection Alliance’s (TPA) Consumer Center accused the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control of ignoring science and the rights of consumers in its pursuit of restrictive tobacco control measures, as the global body prepares for its 10th Conference of the Parties (COP10) this year.

    Martin Cullip, an international fellow at TPA issued the statement criticizing the WHO FCTC’s focus on policies known as MPOWER, which rely solely on restrictions on the supply and demand of tobacco products while ignoring other proven measures to help smokers quit.

    “While the WHO has had some success in the past, it is far from effective,” Cullip said. “Twenty years ago, when the FCTC treaty was first implemented, there were around 1 billion smokers worldwide and this number is not changing meaningfully.”

    Cullip said that despite decades of WHO’s restrictive tobacco control policies, most countries are not reducing smoking fast enough and will miss the WHO’s target to reduce smoking rates by 30 percent.

    He said the current approach focusing on control and restrictions, hasn’t delivered on its intended outcomes. “International treaties should have three main aims: grow global membership, encourage parties to implement measures consistent with the aims of the treaty, and measure outcomes as a result of its actions,” he said. “The WHO FCTC does the first two effectively, but not the third one at all.”

    “It is the lack of regard for outcomes which has led to many, including former WHO health directors, to declare that its approach is ‘not fit for purpose,’” he added.

    Cullip said the WHO’s focus had shifted from tackling the harms of tobacco smoke to fighting nicotine itself. “It seems that reducing death and disease is not an objective for them,” he said. “Their approach has changed to an attack on nicotine, which on its own, causes very little harm, instead of combustible tobacco, which kills.”

    He blamed the WHO’s “anti-scientific position” for the rise in global smoking rates, which leave smokers confused and more likely to carry on smoking rather than considering safer products that don’t burn tobacco.

    Cullip also criticized the WHO’s alleged disregard for harm reduction strategies, which seek to reduce harm for those who won’t abstain from tobacco use.

    He said the WHO has consistently failed to respect article 1(d) of the FCTC which includes “harm reduction strategies” as one of the main pillars of tobacco control.

    “Instead, the WHO promotes prohibition. Despite the abject failure of the war on drugs and any other prohibition in modern history, the WHO chooses to wage the war on nicotine. These recommendations distract countries from implementing measures that can improve the lives of their populations,” he said.

    Cullip said the WHO’s process excludes public participation and disregards consumer rights, violating the spirit of the Ottawa Charter which emphasizes individual control over health choices.

    “It is well past time the WHO FCTC process listened to the public it is supposed to serve,” he said. “The evidence in favor of harm reduction is increasing, and the WHO cannot ignore stakeholders who are central to the debate forever.”

    Cullip called on the WHO FCTC to embrace all approaches in its policy discussions, honestly assess evidence and allow for greater public participation to achieve effective tobacco control strategies.

    He also suggested that countries explore alternative methods beyond those dictated by the WHO to address their individual smoking challenges.

    “Keeping doing more of the same and hoping for a different outcome is insanity. The number of smokers won’t go meaningfully down unless the WHO recognizes that a change is needed. Safer nicotine products are not the enemy, it is smoked tobacco,” he said.

  • UK Delegation to Push Vapes for Cessation at COP10

    UK Delegation to Push Vapes for Cessation at COP10

    Photo: IRStone

    The U.K. government believes that vapes comprise an important tool for helping adults quit tobacco smoking, a position its delegation will put forward during COP10, according to Dame Andrea Leadsom, the parliamentary under-secretary of state for health and social care.

    Leadsom was speaking on Jan. 18 at Westminster during a backbench debate organised by MP Andrew Lewer and aimed at uncovering what stance the government would take at COP10, the 10th Conference of the Parties to the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which is due to be held in Panama on Feb. 5-10.

    Lewer, and others who spoke during the debate, were concerned that COP10 might resolve to establish equivalence in the regulation of combustible cigarettes and reduced-risk products, thus undermining the U.K.’s successful strategy of using vapes to help smokers quit their habit. Their concerns had been inflamed because previously they had been unable to wring from the government information about who would go to Panama as part of the U.K.’s delegation and what positions they would take.

    Leadsom said the U.K. delegation would be led by the U.K.’s deputy chief medical officer, Jeanelle de Gruchy, but gave only a rough overview of the U.K.’s position. Referring to the discussions that would take place about progress on tobacco control worldwide, she said the U.K. was an outlier on the topic of vapes, and would be putting forward its position that vapes were a very important tool for helping adults to quit. The U.K. government would welcome other parties going further on tobacco control, but it would be monitoring the negotiations to ensure that “nothing becomes mandatory.”

    On novel and emerging tobacco products, said Leadsom, different parties took different approaches. Currently, the U.K. was still looking at issues around heated tobacco, so the U.K. delegation would be in listening mode in this respect.

    She said the U.K. had no plans to implement further restrictions on advertising and sponsorship, and she said that it would be pressing for no increase to be made in assessed FCTC contributions.

    This last point was likely to have been in response to concerns expressed by some during the debate that while the U.K. was a major contributor to the FCTC, it seemed diffident in its approach to tobacco COPs. It was suggested that U.K. taxpayers might end up paying for policies that ran counter to their interests.

    This was perhaps something of a concern because the debate never got to grips with the issues of how COP proposals could be blocked by individual parties, and, if they were not blocked, whether they were binding on all parties. The latter issue would not be so worrisome currently because the U.K. government has shown itself to be relaxed in its approach to complying with international agreements and laws, but it might become more of an issue if the current government is replaced in this election year.–George Gay

  • New Dates for COP10, MOP3 in Panama Announced

    New Dates for COP10, MOP3 in Panama Announced

    Photo: JeromeMaurice

    The World Health Organization has announced the dates for the resumed in-person sessions of the 10th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP10) to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and the third session of the Meeting of the Parties (MOP3) to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products.

    Following communication received from Panama, the host country of COP10 and MOP3, and in consultation with the Bureaus of the Conference of the Parties to the FCTC and of the Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol, the dates for the resumed in-person sessions of COP10 and MOP3 have now been set as follows:

    • Resumed COP10: Feb. 5-10, 2024
    • Resumed MOP3: Feb 12-15, 2024
  •  ‘Systemic Failures’ Blamed for Panama COP10 Delay

     ‘Systemic Failures’ Blamed for Panama COP10 Delay

    Photo: Unitas Photography

    The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) blames “systemic failures” at the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) for the postponement of the 10th Conference of the Parties (COP10) that was due to take place last week in Panama.

    “While the ‘official’ reason for the postponement of the conference was said to be security issues on the ground in Panama, it has come to light that the unfulfilled COP10 organization contract for which $5 million was allocated by the Panamanian Ministry of Health was terminated by the government at the end of October, finding itself without any service provider to ensure the event took place,” CAPHRA wrote in an e-mailed statement.

    “The fact that the WHO FCTC knew in October that they did not have a venue or conference planning underway and waited until the week before the conference was due to begin before cancelling it shows contempt for member states and a blatant disregard and dismissal of the months spent creating and submitting position papers, requesting budget allocations from their governments and planning their attendance—including airfares, visas and hotel reservations,” the tobacco harm reduction group wrote.

    “But then again, it seems a nonissue that $5 million disappeared, said the CAPHRA. Money that doctors in Panama said would be better spent on actual healthcare in the country—incubators, medicines and facilities.”

    According to CAPHRA, the WHO FCTC’s actions not only threaten public health but also cause economic strain and foster next-generation addiction.

    “The WHO FCTC is tone deaf to anything or anyone that questions the work they are mandated to do,” said CAPHRA Executive Coordinator Nancy Loucas. “This includes sabotaging health policies, negatively impacting the environment and using funds from Big Pharma and the Bloomberg Foundation, among others, to promote misleading narratives and undermine tobacco harm reduction efforts.”