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Tag: WHO

  • FCTC Slammed for Self-Congratulatory Approach

    FCTC Slammed for Self-Congratulatory Approach

    Last week, the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) – one of the biggest United Nations treaties in history – celebrated its 20th anniversary with WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus calling tobacco a plague on humanity.

    “Over the past two decades … global tobacco use prevalence has dropped by one-third,” he said. “The WHO FCTC has helped to save millions of lives through strengthened tobacco control measures around the world.”

    Not everyone was impressed, however, as today the Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) condemned the FCTC for “celebrating institutional achievements whilst millions across the Asia Pacific region continue to die from preventable smoking-related diseases.”  

    “The FCTC’s self-congratulatory approach is deeply offensive to communities devastated by preventable tobacco deaths,” said Nancy Loucas, Executive Coordinator of CAPHRA. “While they celebrate incremental victories, over one billion people globally continue smoking, with the majority in low and middle-income countries across our region. Their refusal to acknowledge harm reduction alternatives is costing countless lives.” 

    CAPHRA said that despite mounting evidence supporting tobacco harm reduction, the FCTC continues to marginalize consumer advocates while maintaining policies that deny smokers access to potentially life-saving alternatives. The FCTC systematically excludes these voices from policy deliberations, dismissing their lived experiences and denying others who smoke in Asia the opportunity to access reduced harm alternatives.  

     “The FCTC’s unwillingness to evolve in the face of overwhelming evidence amounts to a human rights issue,” Loucas said. “By reducing tobacco harm reduction to an industry construct, the FCTC effectively sentences millions to preventable suffering.” 

    CAPHRA is calling on delegates of the upcoming COP11 meeting to “adopt risk-proportionate regulations that distinguish safer alternatives from deadly combustible products, subject FCTC policies to UN human rights oversight, and acknowledge the successes of countries who have embraced tobacco harm reduction in their public health policies that confirms the scientific consensus on safer nicotine products as critical harm reduction tools.” 

  • CAPHRA Wants WHO to Embrace Consumer Voices

    CAPHRA Wants WHO to Embrace Consumer Voices

    The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) demanded the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) end its exclusion of consumer organizations and adopt evidence-based tobacco harm reduction (THR) as a vital public health strategy ahead of its COP11 meeting.

    CAPHRA called on COP11 delegates to grant formal observer status to consumer groups, adopt risk-proportionate regulations distinguishing safer products from cigarettes, and subject WHO FCTC policies to United Nations human rights oversight.

    “The WHO must evolve. Consumer advocates are not the enemy—they’re the bridge to pragmatic solutions and essential partners in reducing smoking-related harm,” said Nancy Loucas, CAPHRA Executive Coordinator. “COP11 must prioritize transparency and science over ideology. Lives hang in the balance.”

    CAPHRA pointed to New Zealand’s progressive vaping policies that have helped the adult smoking rate drop below 6% in 2024 and Japan’s adoption of heated tobacco products have also driven smoking rates to record lows. Conversely, Australia’s prohibitionist approach has fueled a thriving black market for unregulated vaping products, exposing consumers to greater risks.

    “The WHO’s refusal to engage with consumer groups—those most directly affected by its policies—undermines global public health,” said Loucas. “By silencing consumer voices and dismissing safer alternatives, they prioritize ideology over science, costing lives.”

  • WHO Releases Guideline for Cessation

    WHO Releases Guideline for Cessation

    Image: Tobacco Reporter archive

    The World Health Organization has released a comprehensive set of tobacco cessation interventions, including behavioral support delivered by healthcare providers, digital cessation interventions and pharmacological treatments, in its first guideline on tobacco cessation.

    The guideline focuses on helping tobacco users who want to quit all forms of tobacco. The recommendations are relevant for all adults seeking to quit various tobacco products, including cigarettes, water pipes, smokeless tobacco products, cigars, roll-your-own tobacco and heated-tobacco products.

    “This guideline marks a crucial milestone in our global battle against these dangerous products,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general. “It empowers countries with the essential tools to effectively support individuals in quitting tobacco and alleviate the global burden of tobacco-related diseases.”

    “The immense struggle that people face when trying to quit smoking cannot be overstated,” said Ruediger Krech, director of health promotion at the WHO. “We need to deeply appreciate the strength it takes and the suffering endured by individuals and their loved ones to overcome this addiction. These guidelines are designed to help communities and governments provide the best possible support and assistance for those on this challenging journey.”

  • WHO Wants Cambodia to Raise Tobacco Taxes

    WHO Wants Cambodia to Raise Tobacco Taxes

    Image: VDZ3 Media

    Ada Moadsiri, World Health Organization representative in Cambodia, called for an increase in the special tax on cigarettes in the kingdom, reports the Khmer Times. According to Moadsiri, the current tax is not enough to discourage cigarette use or to raise enough revenues to offset the cost in terms of healthcare and economic output caused by tobacco-related illnesses.

    Moadsiri said, at the Youth Forum on Tobacco Tax Measures event, that an effective increase in the special tax would require stakeholders to keep cigarette prices higher and make it more difficult for Cambodians to start smoking.

    “We see that this delusion of the tobacco industry that claims that raising taxes on cigarettes will lead to tax evasion is fake, and I think the tobacco industry uses these fantasies for the sole purpose of preventing or delaying the special tax on cigarettes,” Moadsiri said.

  • WHO: Tobacco Use Continues to Decline

    WHO: Tobacco Use Continues to Decline

    Image: yothinsanchai777

    A new World Health Organization report shows that tobacco use continued to decline in 2022, with one in five adults consuming tobacco compared to one in three in 2000, according to the WHO.

    According to the report, 150 countries are successfully reducing tobacco use.

    “Good progress has been made in tobacco control in recent years, but there is no time for complacency,” said Ruediger Krech, director of the WHO Department of Health Promotion. “I’m astounded at the depths the tobacco industry will go to pursue profits at the expense of countless lives. We see that the minute a government thinks they have won the fight against tobacco, the tobacco industry seizes the opportunity to manipulate health policies and sell their deadly products.”

    The WHO report shows that six countries continue to see an increase in tobacco use: Congo, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Oman and the Republic of Moldova. The WHO is urging countries to continue putting in place tobacco control policies and to continue fighting against tobacco industry interference.

    In February, countries are set to meet in Panama for the 10th session of the Conference of the Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, where the WHO claims the tobacco industry will attempt to influence countries’ tobacco control policies.