Tobacco industry thwarting smoking control aims, WHO says
Interference by the tobacco industry will remain an impediment in fully implementing effective tobacco control measures under the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in Southeast Asia.
This is the main finding of the report Tobacco Industry Interference Index: Asean Report on Implementation of WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Article 5.3 launched yesterday by the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (Seatca) in Manila.
The index, the fourth in the series, is a civil society report that tracks government action in protecting their health policies from interference from the tobacco industry. “Article 5.3 is the backbone of the convention as it guides countries to protect their tobacco control policies from vested interests of the tobacco industry,” Mary Assunta, Seatca’s senior policy adviser and the author of the report.
“The FCTC cannot be implemented effectively if industry interference is not rooted out. However Article 5.3 is the least effectively implemented Article. The solution lies in the hands of the governments.”
SEATCA is a multi-sectoral non-governmental alliance promoting health and saving lives by assisting Asean countries to accelerate and effectively implement the evidence-based tobacco control measures contained in the WHO FCTC.
