The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

Publication date: 2014

The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) is a landmark in global public health. It is a legally-binding treaty that commits its Parties to develop and implement a series of evidence-based tobacco control measures. The Convention is a legal instrument for international cooperation on tobacco control that seeks to protect present and future generations from the devastating health, social, environmental and economic consequences of tobacco use. It is WHO’s most important tobacco control tool.

Protecting tobacco control from tobacco industry interference

Publication date: 2014

The tobacco industry seeks to undermine tobacco control efforts. As more countries move to fully meet their obligations under the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the tobacco industry’s attempts to subvert the Convention are becoming increasingly energetic. This poses a serious danger to public health. There is a fundamental and irreconcilable conflict between the tobacco industry’s interests and public health policy interests. The WHO FCTC therefore recognizes the need to protect public health from the efforts of the tobacco industry.

Tobacco taxation

Publication date: 2014

Taxation is one of the most effective ways of reducing tobacco use. Higher tobacco taxes raise tobacco prices leading to reductions in tobacco consumption. Increasing the price of tobacco reduces tobacco use, discourages initiation among potential users, encourages current users to quit and helps prevent relapse in those who have stopped. Demand reduction is higher in low- and middle income countries, where lower incomes make tobacco users more responsive to price increases than those in high-income countries.

Second-hand smoke

Publication date: 2014

Second-hand smoke is a mixture of the smoke from the burning tip of a cigarette and the smoke exhaled by a smoker. When second-hand smoke contaminates the air, especially in enclosed spaces, it is inhaled by everyone, exposing both smokers and non-smokers to its harmful effects. It causes lung cancer in non-smokers and increases the risk of coronary heart disease. Smokers and non-smokers alike deserve to be protected from the dangers of tobacco products.

Tobacco product regulation

Publication date: 2014

Tobacco is the only legally available product that kills up to half of its regular users when consumed as recommended by its manufacturer. It is also one of the few openly available commercial products that is largely unregulated in terms of its contents and emissions. All tobacco products are harmful and addictive and can cause death and disease. Tobacco product ingredients and emissions, including nicotine, should be regulated. This includes oversight of tobacco product manufacturing, packaging and labelling, and distribution.

Tobacco packaging and labelling

Publication date: 2014

Tobacco packaging is a key part of the branding and advertising of tobacco products. It is highly visible both when packs are used by consumers and at attractive point of sale displays. Packaging has become increasingly important to tobacco companies as other forms of tobacco promotion have become restricted. It is important that tobacco packaging provides information to warn consumers of the risks. They have a right to know the truth.

Tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship

Publication date: 2014

Tobacco advertising and promotion is the main way the tobacco industry increases tobacco use. It encourages new users, stimulates current users to consume more, tempts former users to relapse and discourages current users from quitting. The tobacco industry does this by spending billions of US dollars each year on promoting tobacco use as socially acceptable and misleadingly associating it with glamour, health, beauty and well-being. This draws attention away from the real damage to health caused by tobacco use.

Tobacco use in films

Publication date: 2014

As bans on tobacco advertising become more widespread, the tobacco industry has switched to alternative ways of promoting their deadly products. Films are an important medium for tobacco product placement, indirect tobacco advertising and social learning about tobacco use. Films reach huge audiences who view them not only in cinemas, but also on television channels, DVDs and the internet. Research suggests a causal relationship between exposure to depictions of tobacco use in films and youth tobacco use initiation.

Tobacco cessation

Publication date: 2014

To address the epidemic of tobacco use, prevention activities are not enough. Tobacco control efforts also need to help current users to quit. Giving up tobacco use has both immediate and long-term benefits which apply to all age groups, even those already suffering from tobacco related health problems. Quitting also has health benefits for those exposed to second-hand smoke; children of smoking parents will see a reduction in their risk of respiratory diseases, such as asthma, and of ear infections.

The illicit trade in tobacco products

Publication date: 2014

The illicit supply of tobacco products is a massive global problem that leads to tobacco-related death and disease. Illicit tobacco products are untaxed and therefore less expensive, leading to increased tobacco use and the loss to governments of enormous amounts of potential tax revenue. The illicit and counterfeit production of tobacco products may be carried out by legal manufacturers who declare only a fraction of their production to the tax authorities or by unlicensed manufacturers. It is done to avoid paying tax.

Tobacco cultivation

Publication date: 2014

The tobacco industry promotes the cultivation of tobacco to farmers, claiming it will bring them prosperity, and exaggerates its economic importance to countries. However, tobacco farmers are facing increasing costs of production and declining global prices for tobacco. Many tobacco farmers barely make a living producing a crop that is labour- and input-intensive, and brings with it health and environmental dangers, while endangering food security by diverting scarce land for tobacco cultivation.

Tobacco surveillance

Publication date: 2014

Tobacco use is increasing globally, particularly in developing countries, and rates among youth and women are on the rise in many places. Tobacco surveillance monitors the tobacco epidemic to track tobacco use and its consequences. The data gathered can be used to inform tobacco control and health services planning. WHO is working with countries to regularly monitor tobacco-related mortality and other outcomes. Tobacco surveillance must be consistent and strengthened as the information obtained is essential to reversing the tobacco epidemic.

The effects of tobacco use on health

Publication date: 2014

Tobacco smoke contains tar, carbon monoxide, nicotine and thousands of other chemicals, many of which are toxic, addictive, carcinogenic (cancer causing) and damaging to the coronary arteries that supply the heart. Negative health impacts are associated with the use of all types of tobacco, including cigarettes, waterpipes and smokeless tobacco. The adverse health effects of tobacco use are also experienced by non-smokers exposed to second-hand smoke. Long term exposure to second-hand smoke increases the risk of lung cancer, coronary heart disease and respiratory problems.

Waterpipe tobacco use

Publication date: 2014

In many parts of the world, people use a waterpipe to smoke tobacco. This is particularly true in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. Waterpipe tobacco use is damaging to health in similar ways to cigarette tobacco use. It is often wrongly believed that the smoke is purified by passing through the water in a waterpipe. Waterpipe tobacco use is not a safe alternative to cigarettes, and there is no proof that any device or accessory can make waterpipe smoking safer.

Smokeless tobacco use

Publication date: 2014

Smokeless tobacco use in the Eastern Mediterranean Region is increasing rapidly, especially among young people and women. Smokeless tobacco use is highly addictive and damaging to health. The nicotine in smokeless tobacco is more easily absorbed than by smoking, enhancing its addictiveness. Smokeless tobacco contains many cancer-causing toxins and its use increases the risk of cancers of the head, neck, throat, oesophagus and oral cavity (including cancer of the mouth, tongue, lip and gums) as well as various dental diseases.

Young people and tobacco use

Publication date: 2014

Many of today’s children are tomorrow’s victims of tobacco. Tobacco use, which generally starts during adolescence, is rising among young people. Addiction to nicotine ensures that many will continue to use tobacco into adulthood. As in the rest of the world, the gap between girls’ and boys’ rates of tobacco use is getting smaller in some countries in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. Young people need to be provided with information about the harms of tobacco use and tobacco industry marketing tactics.

Women and tobacco use

Publication date: 2014

Tobacco use by women is a serious and growing problem worldwide. Non-cigarette forms of tobacco, such as waterpipe and smokeless tobacco, are also increasing among women, particularly in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region. Rates of tobacco use among women are still low relative to men. As social and cultural norms regarding women’s tobacco use change, increasing numbers of women are starting to consume tobacco in all its various forms.

Tobacco and poverty

Publication date: 2014

Currently, there are an estimated 1.3 billion smokers worldwide. Of these, 84% live in developing and transitional economy countries. In many countries, it is the poor who bear most of the economic and disease burden of tobacco use. There are many ways in which tobacco increases poverty at the individual, household and national levels. Tobacco use contributes to poverty through loss of income, loss of productivity, disease and death. Together, tobacco and poverty form a vicious circle from which it is often difficult to escape.

Tobacco use and religion

Publication date: 2014

All religions are concerned with the well-being of humans, including their health, and therefore with the negative health impact of tobacco use. Faith-based tobacco control strategies are an important tool in the fight against tobacco in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region. Religion has a strong influence in the Region and is a part of daily life. It therefore has the potential to play an important role in any comprehensive tobacco control strategy.

Health professionals and tobacco control

Publication date: 2014

Tobacco is the largest preventable cause of disease that health professionals will encounter in their professional lives. A variety of health staff, including doctors, nurses, midwives, pharmacists, dentists and psychologists, can all integrate tobacco control into their professional practice. As health care providers they have a unique opportunity to provide patients with information about the harmful effects of tobacco use and assistance with quitting.

Further reading

With these fact sheets, the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean seeks to raise awareness regionally of important aspects of the tobacco epidemic and the main elements of tobacco control. Each of the 20 fact sheets included in this package covers a key topic in tobacco control. They address the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and the areas covered in its key provisions, as well as other important topics in tobacco control. They are easy to use and include information that is up-to-date and relevant to the countries of the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region.