Read the main documents
Download  COP8 App

Stay tuned daily:
WHO FCTC Secretariat Journal
Framework Convention Alliance Bulletin

The First Session of the Meeting of the Parties (MOP1) to the Protocol on Illicit Trade on Tobacco Products is the next event waiting in line after COP8. Taking place in Geneva from 8 to 10 October, it will be the first opportunity for the Parties to the Protocol to discuss its implementation.

25 September 2018 -­ WHO FCTC Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products – entry into force

ENSP congratulates the WHO and the 48 states party on the coming into force on 25 September 2018 of the WHO FCTC Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products.

The Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products is the first protocol to the WHO FCTC and a new international treaty in its own right. The Protocol builds upon and complements Article 15 of the WHO FCTC, which addresses means of countering illicit trade in tobacco products, a key aspect of a comprehensive tobacco control policy.

On 27 June 2018, with 41 Parties, the conditions for the entry into force of the Protocol were met, making this historical moment another step in the battle against the tobacco epidemic. A natural extension of the Convention, the Protocol presents a comprehensive set of tools to fight illicit trade, among them, the establishment of a tracking and tracing system, as well as measures to promote international cooperation, including sanctions and law enforcement.

Read more
Read more on the Article 15 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

ENSP has launched a Series of Fact Sheets covering a range of tobacco control topics. The first 2 editions are dedicated to Characterising Flavours in Tobacco Products and Heated Tobacco Products.

Highlights:

• Public Health Implications of flavours

Research has shown that flavours play an important role in drawing in new users of tobacco products and sustaining long-term use. Flavours are particularly appealing to youth and young adults, especially fruit and candy flavour. Historically, the tobacco industry has added flavourings to maximise its attractiveness to young people, using advertisement strategies to directly target this population. Additionally, research indicates that by lessening the harshness of cigarette smoking, such as cooling effects of menthol or sweetness of other flavours, flavoured tobacco products can reduce harm perceptions of these products.

• Use of flavoured cigarettes in the EU

Data from the EUREST-PLUS ITC Europe Surveys, which aims to evaluate the EU TPD, shows that in 2016, on average, menthol and other flavoured cigarette smokers from six EU Member States were more likely to be younger (ages 18-24), as compared to older age groups6. Furthermore, in 2018, 13% of adult smokers from six EU MS believe that menthol cigarettes are less harmful than regular cigarettes.

Read ENSP Fact Sheet on Characterising flavours in tobacco products

• What is heated tobacco?

Heated tobacco products (alternatively called heat-not-burn or hybrid tobacco products) are specific tobacco products specifically produced to be heated at temperatures below combustion levels, causing nicotine and other compounds to aerosolise (“cold smoke”). Heated tobacco products are a hybrid between electronic and conventional cigarettes: they are equipped with a battery-powered device that heats while the product used inside is not a liquid containing nicotine, but “real cut tobacco” (e.g. disposable tobacco sticks).

• Heated tobacco contribution to global tobacco epidemic

With this current scientific evidence, national and international organisations including the European Respiratory Society or the French Alliance Against Tobacco have demonstrated that heated tobacco products are shown to:  1) be harmful and addictive; 2) undermine smokers’ wish to quit; 3) undermine ex-smokers’ wish to stay smoke-free; 4) be a temptation for non-smokers, in particular adolescents and young people; 5) pose a risk of re-normalisation of smoking; 6) pose a risk of dual use with conventional cigarettes.

Read ENSP Fact Sheet on Heated Tobacco Products

The 3rd edition of the ENSP Conference  titled “Meeting new challenges, joining local and global efforts towards the tobacco endgame in Europe!” took place in June 2018 in Madrid. 

The programme featured more than 40 sessions on a variety of topics including E-cigarettes and Novel products, European Projects on Tobacco Control, Health Effects of Tobacco Use, International Tobacco Control Projects, Secondhand Smoke, Exposure and Prevention, Smoking Cessation (Article 14), Tobacco Advertising, Promotion & Sponsorship, Tobacco Products Directive, Tobacco, Taxation, WHO FCTC Ratification, Youth Prevention and Tobacco. 

NOFUMADORES.ORG, a Spanish non-profit association whose prime objective is to defend the right to live without being involuntarily obliged to breathe tobacco smoke. 

The initiative arose from a group of people all over Spain, of all ages, nationalities and professions (doctors, engineers, economists, business men, university professors etc.), who through Internet, after exchanging experiences and preoccupations, decided to use this method to fight against the wrong which the passive smoker suffers in our society. Those being said, their aims are:

• To defend the right to live in a smoke free environment.
• To ban smoking in all enclosed public places.
• To strictly enforce tobacco legislation.
• To raise public awareness of the harmful effects of secondhand smoke.

Read more about the activities of nofumadores.org

To disseminate this important work carried out by WHO Europe,     the Network features key arguments from the Playbook of relevance to ENSP members and stakeholders in the tobacco control community.

Claims that tobacco companies want to see a Smokefree World are inconsistent with the industry’s fierce opposition to measures that will reduce smoking and its continuing promotion in both LMIC and other countries, as well as the companies’ own comments about the long-term prospects for smoking, and confirmation that tobacco remains the “core” product.

The tough reality is that, according to WHO and US NCI, the number of deaths will rise to 8 million, by 2030, tobacco being the only industry whose products kill half of its regular consumers. And in the end, despite the efforts of the health sector activists, the tobacco industry still seeks to oppose any action tht might reduce sales and promotes smoking to LMICs and other vulnerable populations and "emerging markets". 

Read more in the WHO Tobacco Control Playbook

Read the full text of the research

At the end of August, New York Times published an exclusive article on tobacco companies using social media to target youth and highlighted at the same time the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. 

Key findings from the investigation include: 

• Tobacco companies seek out young people who have significant numbers of followers online and pay them to post photos featuring Marlboro, Lucky Strike and other cigarette brands. Social media influencers are trained on what cigarette brands to promote, when to post pictures for maximum exposure and how to take “natural photos” that do not look like staged advertisements. In Italy, influencers paid to promote Lucky Strike cigarettes were instructed to make sure health warnings on cigarette packs were not visible in photos posted online. 

• Tobacco companies organize parties and contests with cigarette brand sponsorships and encourage participants to post on their social media accounts.

• Influencers are instructed to include specific hashtags promoting cigarettes on social media posts. The fact that hashtags used by social media influencers are mostly in English indicates tobacco companies are targeting a global audience that includes American youth.

• Combined, these deceptive social media campaigns for tobacco products have been viewed more than 25 billion times worldwide – including 8.8 billion times in the United States, according to social media analytics commissioned as part of this investigation.

The petition calls on the FTC to issue an order requiring tobacco companies to disclose that their social media campaigns are in fact paid advertising for tobacco products by clearly including #Sponsored, #Promotion or #Ad in the content. The petition was filed by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, Truth Initiative and Vital Strategies. 

You can view the full petition here.

Left unchecked, this global marketing tactic poses a significant threat to renormalizing tobacco use around the world. An advocacy campaign launched against the tobacco companies' social media marketing in June 2018 by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids details how the companies are doing this and what advocates can do about it - Where There's Smoke (www.wheretheressmoke.social).

On 27 September 2018, the United Nations General Assembly held a high-level meeting to undertake a comprehensive review of the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases. The main purpose of the meeting was to allow Heads of State and Government to conduct a comprehensive review of the progress achieved in reducing the risk of dying prematurely from NCDs, as agreed at the First High-level Meeting in 2011 and reaffirmed at the Second High-level Meeting in 2014. 

Read more

EQUIPTMOD as a Basis for Rational Investment Decisions in Tobacco Control

"EQUIPTMOD" is an economic modelling tool that can be used by national and regional governments in Europe to assess the return on investment (ROI) of different tobacco control scenarios using the best available evidence, and so provides a rational basis for decision‐making in this crucial area of population health. 

The collection of research papers based on the results of EQUIPT project (ROI model) has been published in the "Addiction" Journal (Volume 113,  Issue S1):