WHO forum is a closed system

ECigIntelligence says it was refused accreditation to attend the Conference of the Parties to the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which is currently in session.

About 1,500 delegates from about 180 countries are believed to be participating in the conference, which opened on November 7 at Greater Noida, a city close to New Delhi, and which is due to end on November 12.

In a note by contributing writer, Swati Gupta, posted on its website, ECigIntelligence said the WHO had been criticised for its refusal to allow representation from tobacco-related companies at the biannual tobacco control meeting.

It said the head of the FCTC secretariat Vera da Costa e Silva had claimed that the industry was trying to insinuate itself into delegations and proceedings. “If anyone doubts the importance of what we do here, always remember the industry’s malevolent presence and the strong need for transparency,” she was quoted as saying.

‘Media representatives have reportedly also been excluded from the meeting, as they were in Moscow two years ago,’ the note said. ‘ECigIntelligence was refused accreditation but is continuing to cover the event with a reporter in Delhi.

‘Electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) such as e-cigarettes are on the agenda for the meeting, although the WHO’s criticism of all vaping alternatives has been dismissed by many specialists in the field.

‘The WHO has released reports over the last two years dismissing e-cigarettes as an alternative to combustibles.’

ECigIntelligence ended its piece by saying that once again, the fight against tobacco’s health harms seems to be dominated by the WHO’s fixation on controlling the dialogue, along with its severe stand on all vaping alternatives to smoking.

Gupta’s piece is at: http://ecigintelligence.com/who-criticised-as-talks-on-tobacco-and-electronic-nicotine-systems-get-underway/