Devex: Opinion: Tobacco is a huge health threat. So why aren’t we doing more about it?
Ryan Forrest, policy and advocacy officer at the Framework Convention Alliance for Tobacco Control, and Francis Thompson, executive director at the FCA

“…This October, governments who are parties to the global tobacco control treaty will gather … at the eighth session of the [Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC)] Conference of the Parties, where they will discuss and potentially endorse the world’s first Global Strategy to accelerate tobacco control and advance sustainable development. If endorsed, the strategy will be an important tool to improve multilateral cooperation to combat the tobacco epidemic. It calls upon global actors … to take action to support governments [in developing] their own comprehensive national tobacco control strategies, and to put a few key measures into place including raising taxes on tobacco products and putting health warnings on packages. We must also seize the opportunity that will be presented at the United Nations High-level Meeting on NCDs, taking place next week, to raise awareness of this forthcoming plan … and to highlight the potential it holds to serve as a roadmap to address a leading risk factor in the development of NCDs. If the world is going to meet the targets set under the 2030 SDG agenda, it needs to get serious about tobacco control…” (9/20).