CoP7 recommends litigation pathway

An international, tobacco-control conference has pledged to hold big tobacco companies liable for the health consequences of their products, to recover health care costs and to facilitate access to justice for victims of tobacco-related diseases, according to an Associated Press story published by the Mail Online.

The seventh Conference of the Parties (CoP7) to the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control was held in India on November 7-12.

Delegates vowed also to protect public health policies from being influenced by tobacco companies, to prohibit or regulate the sale of electronic cigarettes and to promote alternative livelihoods for tobacco farmers that would ensure a better future for them.

The more than 1,500 delegates were said to have expressed their concern about attempts by the tobacco industry to infiltrate the meetings and influence the workings and outcomes of the conference.

But, in fact, as has become usual practice, most observers were barred from the conference; so there appears to be no way to verify independently what went on there.

Meanwhile, health activists were said to have hailed the decision on legal liability, saying it could set a precedent for holding other industries accountable for environmental damage or public health harms they caused.