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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Birthplace of Human Rights – Switzerland – Allows Corporate Malfeasance

New Compiled Research Demonstrates How Switzerland Prioritizes Tobacco Companies Over Their Own Citizens and Global Health

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – OCTOBER 8, 2024 – The Truth and Transparency Committee in Switzerland commissioned an internal review written by Action on Smoking and Health and published by OxySuisse on Switzerland’s engagement with tobacco companies. The results are quite shocking for a country known as the birthplace of human rights.

Time and time again, Switzerland has prioritized the interests of the deadly tobacco industry over the interests and wishes of Swiss citizens, while publicly claiming to be fully committed to the universal protection of human rights.

The new report – Human Rights Violations by Tobacco Multinationals in Switzerland and Around the World – exposes how Switzerland is failing to adequately protect human rights.

Read the Briefing Report here>

Read the Executive Summary here>

9,500-12,000 Swiss citizens die each year from tobacco-related diseases. But, because Switzerland is the corporate home of Philip Morris International, British American Tobacco, Japan Tobacco International and nearly every other major tobacco company, Swiss policies often default to favor the interest of tobacco companies, regardless of the implications.

“As a Swiss citizen, I am ashamed to see Switzerland fail to enact and enforce best practice tobacco control laws that protect human rights,” said Laurent Huber, Executive Director of Action on Smoking and Health. “This new report provides crucial insight into just how deeply embedded tobacco companies are in Swiss policymaking, serving as all the evidence needed that tobacco companies must be actively excluded from all public health policymaking in Switzerland and around the world.”

Switzerland receives very high scores in international country rankings in a variety of social and economic areas, from cleanliness, safety, efficient infrastructure, environment, economic indicators and high living standards. Switzerland has a strong economy, ranks number one in the Global Innovation Index and enjoys of the highest levels of per capita GDP in the world. But there is another side of Switzerland.

When it comes to tobacco, Switzerland no longer ranks as a leader; Switzerland is at the bottom of international rankings. Switzerland’s weak policies to protect its population, including children, from tobacco products earned it the 36^th place out of 37 countries in the European Tobacco Control Scale. Similarly, Switzerland ranked last in the Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index because of the high level of tobacco industry interference in Swiss health policy.

“Switzerland is complicit with the tobacco industry,” said Kelsey Romeo-Stuppy, Managing Attorney at Action on Smoking and Health. “Switzerland’s actions are an obstacle to the Right to Health of Swiss and global citizens.”

The human right to health has been recognized at the highest level of international law and codified in human rights treaties ratified by Switzerland.

Switzerland is one of the few countries in the world that have failed to ratify the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and therefore has failed to implement the life saving measures of this important treaty. Instead, Switzerland prioritizes the interests of the tobacco industry over the interests of its citizens and has even ignored the advice of its own health experts around evidence-based policies like banning tobacco advertising and increasing tobacco taxes.

Recommendations from the report include:

1.) Ratify the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

2.) Fully implement the best practices set out in the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, including but not limited to: Providing adequate cessation support to citizens; Banning tobacco advertising, sales, and promotion; Prevent industry interference in tobacco policies; Increasing tobacco taxes

3.) Stop exporting cigarettes, especially those that do not meet domestic safety standards

4.) Take steps to discourage or disincentivize tobacco industry business headquarters in Switzerland

5.) Enact laws that protect the environment from the harms of the tobacco industry and its products

6.) Consider banning the commercial sale of cigarettes

The World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) includes an Article 5.3 which clarifies that tobacco companies must be actively excluded from tobacco control policymaking. And Switzerland is a prime example of why the Article 5.3 Guidelines are so essential to follow.

By being complicit with the tobacco industry, Switzerland is an obstacle to the right to health of Swiss citizens and the global community. It’s time for Switzerland’s polices to reflect their rhetoric of prioritizing human rights.

Multimedia available to use in reporting here>

ACTION ON SMOKING AND HEALTH
Founded in 1967, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) is America’s oldest anti-tobacco organization, dedicated to a world with ZERO tobacco deaths. Because tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death worldwide, ASH supports bold solutions proportionate to the magnitude of the problem. ash.org