Conference season for Tobacco Control

Sustainability, illicit trade and e-cigarettes will be key topics for The Department of Tobacco Control at this autumn’s two major conferences: The Union World Conference on Lung Health in Liverpool, UK, and the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Conference of Parties in Delhi, India.

A new index to assess whether countries have key infrastructures in place to ensure their tobacco control programmes are sustainable will be launched at The Union conference, and shared more widely at the WHO FCTC’s 7th COP in November. This document will include a toolkit for countries to carry out their own sustainability assessment, and a report on the first 24 countries to undergo this process. The Index of Tobacco Control Sustainability is the first tool of its kind.

Combatting illicit trade will be a focus at COP 7, as momentum builds to ratify the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products. So far there are 19 Parties to the Protocol – 40 are needed for it to become international law. The Protocol is an international treaty in its own right, drawn up by Parties to the WHO FCTC. It commits signatories to eliminate all forms of illicit trade in tobacco products, addressing supply chain issues, enhancing international cooperation and establishing tracking and tracing systems.

The divisive issue of e-cigarettes will be tackled head-on during a plenary, a symposium and during other sessions at The Union’s conference in Liverpool this October.

‘The upcoming conferences offer public health experts to learn, debate and collaborate on the key issues facing us now, and those swiftly coming down the track over the next couple of years,’ said Dr Ehsan Latif, Director of the Department of Tobacco Control. ‘With the Sustainable Development Goals now in place we have renewed focus and impetus to reduce tobacco use. We look forward to meeting both long-standing colleagues and new partners in Liverpool and Delhi.’