The week of November 9 – 13, 2020 was originally the date for global tobacco control advocates, government representatives, and UN agencies to meet at the Hague in the Netherlands to participate in the biannual negotiation for the global tobacco treaty, the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). Negotiations were pushed back a year due to COVID-19, but there are many parts of the FCTC that are relevant to our everyday work, so ASH with support from its partners, including the Framework Convention Alliance and Corporate Accountability International, held a week of webinars. These webinars focused on the FCTC, funding, endgame, liability, human rights, and COVID-19.

All recordings are linked below.

Monday, Nov. 9^th: WHO FCTC Article 2.1: The Overlooked Article’s Impact on Endgame with co-hosts Health Funds for a Smokefree Netherlands and Menzies School of Health Research in Darwin, Australia

The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control was intended to be the floor for tobacco control, not the ceiling. Article 2.1 states, “In order to better protect human health, Parties are encouraged to implement measures beyond those required by this Convention

and its protocols, and nothing in these instruments shall prevent a Party from imposing stricter requirements that are consistent with their provisions and are in accordance with international law.” Join our speakers as they discuss the intentions behind this article, and the possibilities for accelerating and exceeding the FCTC in order to achieve the objectives of the treaty “to protect present and future generations from the devastating health, social, environmental and economic consequences of tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco smoke.”

Speakers:

• Mary Assunta, Senior Policy Advisor at Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA) & Head of Global Research and Advocacy at Global Center for Good Governance in Tobacco Control (GGTC)
• Dr. Marita Hefler, News Editor for BMJ Tobacco Control and a Senior Research Fellow at the Menzies School of Health Research in Darwin, Australia
• Chris Bostic, Deputy Director for Policy at Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)
• Guy Muller, International Public Affairs Consultant of the Dutch Cancer Society (DCS)

Watch Monday’s Recording Here
Download Speakers’ Combined Slides Here

Tuesday, Nov. 10^th: WHO FCTC Article 19: Using the Judicial System to Fight Tobacco with co-hosts Corporate Accountability International (CAI) and the Global Center for Good Governance in Tobacco Control (GGTC)

Tobacco control is usually considered to be a policy issue, within the jurisdiction of the legislature. However, the judicial system is another potential tool in our arsenal in the fight against tobacco. Listen to our panelists discuss civil and criminal liability, including some ongoing cases, and learn how the court system can further tobacco control efforts around the world.

Speakers:

• Kelsey Romeo-Stuppy, Managing Attorney at Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), read her statement here
• Daniel Dorado Torres, Senior Latin America & International Policy Organizer at Corporate Accountability International (CAI)
• Debby Sy, Head of Global Public Policy and Strategy at the Global Center for Good Governance in Tobacco Control (GGTC)
• Amos Hausner, Israeli attorney and tobacco control advocate
• Davi Bressler, Attorney for Brazil, Solicitor General’s Office, Attorney General’s Office

Watch Tuesday’s Recording Here
Download Speakers’ Combined Slides Here

Miércoles, 11 de Noviembre: Incorporación de los derechos humanos en el CMCT de la OMS

(Traducción al español en vivo proporcionada)

El CMCT de la OMS es un tratado basado en evidencia científica que reafirma el derecho de todas las personas al más alto nivel de salud. Una decisión de la COP que afirme el nexo entre el CMCT y los derechos humanos sería útil tanto para los gobiernos como para la sociedad civil. En este seminario web, el profesor Steve Marks de la Universidad de Harvard ofrecerá una descripción general de la conexión entre el tabaco y los derechos humanos, la Dra. Flavia Senkubuge de Sud Arica hablará sobre la Declaración de Ciudad del Cabo sobre los derechos humanos y un mundo sin tabaco, y Kelsey Romeo -Stuppy de ASH y Pablo Analuisa de Ecuador presentarán los objetivos y beneficios de una decisión de derechos humanos de la COP tanto para la sociedad civil como para los gobiernos.

Presentadores:

◦  Kelsey Romeo-Stuppy, abogada de Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)
◦  Dra. Flavia Senkubuge, presidenta de las Facultades de Medicina de Sudáfrica
◦  El profesor Steve Marks, profesor François-Xavier Bagnoud de Salud y Derechos Humanos en Harvard T.H. Escuela Chan de Salud Pública
◦  Pablo Analuisia, Psicólogo Clínico de la Universidad Central del Ecuador y Especialista y Coordinador de Promoción de la Salud Mental del Ministerio de Salud Pública del Ecuador

Mira la grabación del miércoles en español aquí
Descargue las diapositivas combinadas de los oradores aquí

Thursday, Nov. 12^th: COVID-19’s Impact on the FCTC, Cessation, and Tobacco Policy with co-hosts Nofumadores.org and the International Centre for Tobacco Cessation

It’s now been well-documented that smoking nearly doubles the rate of COVID-19 progression. Come listen as the Head of the Convention Secretariat for the WHO FCTC, Dr. Adriana Blanco, discusses the intersections between the FCTC and COVID-19, Professor Martin Raw presents on how cessation services can mitigate the negative impacts of both the tobacco and COVID-19 epidemics, and Raquel Fernandez gives real world examples from the COVID-19 response in Spain.

Speakers:

• Dr. Adriana Blanco Marquizo, Head of the Secretariat for the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC)
• Martin Raw, Director at the International Centre for Tobacco Cessation (ICTC) and Visiting Professor at New York University (NYU) School of Global Public Health
• Raquel Fernández Megina, President of Nofumadores.org

Watch Thursday’s Recording Here
Download Speakers’ Combined Slides Here

Friday, Nov. 13^th: Closing the Funding Gap for FCTC Implementation at the Global and National Level with co-host the Framework Convention Alliance (FCA)

While much progress has been made over the past 15 years in turning the FCTC’s policy recommendations into practice at the national level, large gaps still remain within and between regions. Governments have consistently reported that a major obstacle to progress has been a lack of sustainable resources.

In 2018, FCA and CRUK commissioned an estimation of the size of the ‘global funding gap’ for FCTC implementation based on data from a small, regionally representative group of countries. The analysis has suggested that national per capita expenditure on domestic tobacco control policies rarely meets the levels needed to effectively scale-up policies to FCTC-compliant levels.

What’s more, while a number of governments and philanthropies have in recent years made substantial investments of international assistance for tobacco control, there is still a $27B gap between existing domestic and international funding for tobacco control and what’s needed to fully implement the FCTC.

The FCTC Conference of the Parties has in recent years also faced challenges. The Convention Secretariat requires sustainable funding to fulfil its critical coordination role and to implement the COP-endorsed commitments in its workplan. Nonetheless, Parties have pushed for a zero-nominal-increase policy at each COP session since the treaty’s inception, stretching the COP’s budget to the limit.

A major focus of FCA’s ongoing work has been to support research, analysis, discourse and policy change to address this situation. This webinar will provide participants with an orientation of the various dimensions of the global funding gap for tobacco control, as well as an overview of the discussions currently taking place on how to address the challenges of funding FCTC implementation at multiple levels:

• At the domestic level through taxation and building civil society capacity to influence national budgetary decisions
• For the FCTC Secretariat through a capital investment fund
• At the global level, through a pooled fund or similar dedicated international financing mechanism

Chair: Leslie Rae-Ferat, Acting Executive Director, FCA with Speakers:

• Ryan Forrest, Policy and Advocacy Manager, FCA
• Robinah Kaitiritimba, Executive Director, UNHCO (Uganda National Health Consumers’ Organisation)
• Rob Tripp, Senior Advisor to the WHO FCTC Convention Secretariat
• Sara Rose Taylor, Senior Research Associate, University of Ottawa
• Raphaëlle Faure, International Development Freelance Consultant

Watch Friday’s Recording Here
Download Speakers’ Combined Slides Here

ASH hosts an ongoing webinar series. Previous recordings can be found here. Sign up here for notifications of new webinars added to the schedule.