WHO FCTC - world health treaty's 5th anniversary..

February 27, 2010 - Today, Friday, February 26, 2010 representatives from the 168 ratifying countries of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) tobacco treaty gathered to celebrate its landmark fifth anniversary (treaty entered into force in 2005). As part of the convening, the treaty Secretariat released a comprehensive report on the history of the treaty, assessing its successes to date and the challenges that remain.

These countries deserve a lot of credit but there is still a lot of work to get done. (TobaccoWatch.org) The WHO said on Friday, February 26th that governments must do more to protect workers in bars, restaurants and the entertainment sector from harmful smoke, and curb tobacco advertising and sponsorship. ("Big Tobacco" still on the march, WHO warns by Stephanie Nebehay, (additional reporting by David Jones in London, editing by Jonathan Lynn and Elizabeth Fullerton), Reuters, 2/26/2010.)

WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.. The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) is the first treaty negotiated under the auspices of the World Health Organization. FCTC is the world’s first public health and corporate accountability treaty – and the most rapidly embraced treaty on record. It today protects 86% of the world’s population.

The treaty aims to reverse the leading preventable cause of death and disease. Each year tobacco kills 5.4 million people each year. The death toll will reach more than 8 million over the next two decades, with the majority of lives lost in developing countries. The WHO projects that strong worldwide enforcement and broad implementation of the treaty could save 200 million lives by the year 2050.

Origins of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) Ruth Roemer, JD, Allyn Taylor, JSD, JD, and Jean Lariviere, MD.

Reference: Report: Five Years In, tobacco Treaty is Saving Lives, Continues to be Stymied by Industry, US Still Absent, Gigi Kellett and Christina Rossi (crossi@stopcorporateabuse.org), Corporate Accountability International, 2/26/2010.