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Date : 06/02/2006
Source: Ministry of Health
Title: Tshabalala-Msimang: WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control


Address by Minister of Health, Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, on behalf of the African Region at the First Session of the Conference of the Parties to the World Health Organisation (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), Geneva

I am proud to say that as of today, more than half of the countries in Africa have ratified the FCTC and I would like to congratulate the countries that are now moving forward into the implementation stage.

We have a saying in Africa that you have to wait for the fruit to ripen before you take it from the tree. And we have another saying that those who eat the fruit of a tree are also responsible for tending the trees and sowing new seeds.

Over the past five years we in Africa, together with the rest of you, have carefully tended the tree of international tobacco control. Now the time has come to collectively eat some of the fruit and also for us to prepare the soil for new fruit.

That is what we have come here to do at the first Conference of the Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

Since the beginning of the negotiations towards the FCTC, which formally commenced in October 2000, in this very building, we have repeatedly heard the sad statistics that tobacco, which is the world's leading cause of preventable death, kills nearly 5 million people per year. And for those of us from the global south, it is very alarming to know that, if the current trends continue, 70% of deaths from tobacco-related causes will occur in the developing countries.

The prevalence of tobacco use in Africa has always been relatively low, especially amongst women. And traditionally our young people do not use tobacco products. But that is now changing and it is changing rapidly. This is not because we, as Africans, want to adopt unhealthy behaviours.

The reason that women and young people in Africa are starting to use tobacco because the tobacco industry is harshly targeting them. It has decided, cold-bloodedly, that we should become replacement users of tobacco products. At a time when more and more people in the global north, who are now fully aware of the dangers of tobacco use, are quitting, Africans are being targeted to replace them.

It has now been established, without question, that the tobacco epidemic is being driven forcefully by the tobacco corporations. In pariah-like fashion they are seeking to make staggeringly large financial profits for themselves and shareholders by enticing people, especially in the global south, to use their addictive products.

This is unconscionable. Yet it persists. The tobacco industry has enormous wealth. It can buy seductive and flashy advertising for its deadly products. It can provide enticing sponsorships and thus promote its deadly products. It can use its representatives in great numbers and in subtle and sophisticated ways, to attempt to influence health policies, especially in developing countries. And, it can afford expensive legal challenges in countries that are trying, by all means at their disposal, to curb tobacco use.

For decades, this deadly deception was unfettered. Then the challenges came. Now the challenges to the tobacco industry are growing ever stronger and more forceful.

It is our belief that one of the most effective tools in our struggle to decrease tobacco use and to raise the level of health of our people is the new WHO FCTC. Through this international treaty, we are uniting to protect our peoples from the expansion of the tobacco industry and the devastating effect that it will have on the lives of individuals and on the scarce resources that countries in the global south have to spend on healthcare.

We must make sure that as we move forward into the implementation of the FCTC, we continue to stand strong so that we can be effective. We must continue to be visionary and vigilant so that we can ensure that the FCTC reaches its full potential.

In order to do this we need several things. Firstly, we need a secretariat that is accountable to the Conference of the Parties and that will diligently promote and implement the FCTC between sessions of the Conference of the Parties.

Secondly, the secretariat must be properly funded and it must be fairly funded. Moreover, available funding should, we believe, be distributed in such a way that, less of the money is used to run the headquarters in Geneva and more money is allocated for programs and projects in countries.

Thirdly, the secretariat must be able to make use of the services of people with the necessary skills and capacity, including unimpeachable integrity.

Finally, the secretariat must be fully capable of excluding interference by the tobacco industry, by non-parties to the treaty and any others who would wish to interfere unduly, with the health goals that have already been clearly articulated in the treaty.

Article 24 of the FCTC and the draft Rules of Procedure clearly establish the authority of the Conference of the Parties over the secretariat of the FCTC. However, questions arose during the Intergovernmental Working Group meetings, regarding the relationship between the permanent secretariat and the WHO.

In the interests of smooth functioning and the optimal use of resources, we would like to make the following suggestion: That the World Health Assembly and the Conference of the Parties should enter into an agreement, by means of a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoA). This should expressly define the specific terms of their relationship. The MoA should be approved by the Conference of the Parties and then by the World Health Assembly.

Scientific evidence now indicates that the tobacco epidemic is going to affect those of us who live in the global south, disproportionately. And ironically, as all of us here today already know, we have insufficient resources to deal with our burden of communicable disease, let alone the burden of non-communicable diseases.

We have already proved, through our committed participation in the FCTC negotiations and in the speed with which many of us have ratified the convention, that we are, indeed, very serious about tobacco control in our countries and our region, Africa.

But we will need assistance to implement the treaty. Assistance in drawing up the necessary legislation and other relevant interventions. We therefore request, right at the outset of this implementation phase of the convention, that in all of our deliberations and planning, we bear in mind the special needs of Africa. We trust that we have already, by our deep and unswerving commitment to the treaty negotiation process, proved, beyond any doubt, exactly how serious we are about curbing the tobacco epidemic. But we need your assistance. And we trust that, in the same spirit in which we negotiated the FCTC, we can continue to count on your collective support.

May we work well together over the days to come. And may everything that we do here bear magnificent fruit so that collectively, we can reap, sow and reap again, until we eliminate death and disease from the use of tobacco products.

Issued by: Ministry of Health
6 February 2006

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