FCTC passion and cohesion dissipated after 10 years

The World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) is 10 years old today and apparently it is starting to show its age.

According to a piece by Derek Yach, executive director of the Vitality Institute and former executive director of WHO NCDs, the FCTC is an ambitious approach to tackling the world’s ‘most preventable health problem’. It was built on solid evidence of what worked best and supported strongly by the IMF, the World Bank, UNICEF, leading pharmaceutical companies and international health NGOs.

But Yach said that progress had been mixed and the early passion and cohesion of the coalition had dissipated.

‘The earliest work of the FCTC involved demonizing the tobacco industry and cutting off contact with them,’ he said. ‘That was a successful and simple strategy at the time. But now we face new realities. Major multinationals are edging towards greater investments in innovative harm reduction products…

‘Multinationals seek predictability and respectability. The FCTC gave them the first and harm reduction may give them the second. There is no example of a legal consumer goods sector being regulated out of existence. There are many examples though of how entire industrial sectors can shift from being damaging to the environment or health to being less damaging through the use of innovative technologies, smart regulations, consumer pressure and constant media voice.’

The full text of Yach’s piece, which is one of a series of articles written by health experts to mark the 10th anniversary of the FCTC, is on the Framework Convention Alliance website at: http://www.fctc.org/fca-news/opinion-pieces/1283-derek-yach.