20 Years of WHO FCTC – Achievements and Challenges

One of the most rapidly and widely embraced treaties in United Nations history, the World Health Organisation (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) celebrates its 20th anniversary in May 2023.

The treaty was unanimously adopted at the 56th World Health Assembly in May 2003, and came into force in February 2005. Since then, the treaty has been ratified by 182 countries.

The FCTC contains a host of measures to reduce tobacco’s detrimental health and economic impact and provides essential tools for countries to implement comprehensive tobacco control legislation.

Achievements

• Overall success – the Convention now has 182 parties representing over 90% of the world’s population. It is novel in many ways. It addresses demand-related issues, taxes and advertising, and supply-side matters, such as illicit trade. It promotes economically viable alternatives for those who are dependent on tobacco for their livelihood, such as tobacco growers.

• Reduction in tobacco usage – the WHO FCTC has been instrumental in building legal defences against the tobacco industry and has increased awareness of tobacco industry interference. Over the past 20 years, it has succeeded in keeping tobacco control high on the global agenda and has clearly facilitated efforts to strengthen such control in developed countries. 60 countries are now on track to achieve the WHO voluntary global target of a 30% reduction in tobacco use between 2010 and 2025. In 2019, only 32 countries were on the way to meeting that target.

• Protocol to eliminate illicit trade – another significant achievement was adopting the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products, which entered into force on 25 September 2018. The Protocol now has 67 parties. It makes specific provisions for tackling illicit trade, thereby expanding on Article 15 of the FCTC.