Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Public
Health, Start for Life and Primary Care) ( MP): Between 5 and 10
February the Deputy Chief Medical Officer (DCMO) led the UK
delegation at the tenth Conference of the Parties (COP10) of the
World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco
Control (FCTC) held in Panama City, Panama.
International leadership on tobacco control
This was an opportunity to showcase our international leadership
on tobacco control following the Prime Minister’s smokefree
generation announcement, which has the potential to be one of the
most significant health policies in a generation. The DCMO made a
key intervention to confirm that we will shortly be introducing
legislation to:
- Create the first smokefree generation so children turning 15
this year or younger can never legally be sold tobacco.
- Further crack down on youth vaping by providing powers to
restrict flavours, point of sale and packaging for vapes and
other consumer nicotine products.
- Ban the sale and supply of disposable vapes.
During the conference, the DCMO also clarified the UK’s position
on heated tobacco products. She confirmed that the health advice
is clear: we do not recommend their use and the government
encourages users to quit all forms of tobacco. There is no safe
level of tobacco consumption, and all tobacco products are
harmful. There is also clear evidence of toxicity from heated
tobacco in laboratory studies. The aerosol generated by heated
tobacco also contains carcinogens, and there will be a risk to
the health of anyone using these products. In the UK, heated
tobacco products are regulated as a tobacco product and are
covered by our strict tobacco advertising and promotions ban -
and they will be included in the new smokefree generation policy.
Outcomes of COP10
COP10 committed to protect the environment from the harms of
tobacco and to address cross-border tobacco advertising. COP10
also adopted decisions related to the promotion of human rights
through the WHO FCTC.
COP10 also adopted the Panama Declaration, which highlights the
significant conflict between the tobacco industry’s interests and
the interests of public health. The declaration stresses the need
for policy coherence within governments to comply with the
requirements of Article 5.3 of the WHO FCTC which aims to protect
public health policies from commercial and other vested interests
of the tobacco industry. At the conference, the delegation made
clear the UK’s commitment to this Article.
The COP has been a helpful way of keeping strong tobacco controls
at the top of the global health agenda. It is also a very useful
forum for sharing best practice. As a world leader in tobacco
control, the UK remains committed to seeing the FCTC implemented
worldwide. At the same time we are clear that the UK’s
sovereignty is of paramount importance, and we will continue to
take policy decisions that serve the UK’s national interests.
