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HEALTH: Breath of Tobacco-Free Air as World Assembly Begins

Gustavo Capdevila

GENEVA, May 19 2003 (IPS) - The World Health Assembly got underway in an unexpectedly optimistic climate due to the decision of the United States to withdraw its objections to the first global treaty on tobacco control, paving the way for its approval Wednesday.

But concern about the persistence of the SARS epidemic was a cloud over the events marking the Monday opening of the 10-day sessions of the World Health Organisation (WHO) meeting.

Ministers from the 190 WHO member nations are preparing to sign the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which establishes limits in many areas, but the most contentious are those related to advertising and promotion of tobacco products, and tobacco companies sponsoring such things as sporting events.

WHO executive director Derek Yach, who since 1998 has been promoting the anti-tobacco initiative, told a meeting of international non-governmental organisations Monday that all member countries will approve the text, the result of four years of tough negotiations.

The draft text, agreed in March by 170 countries, calls for the states party to the treaty to begin to apply the tobacco advertising ban within five years after the treaty enters into force.

During the contentious negotiations of the first multilateral agreement on health issues, the U.S. authorities had objected because the text does not include an opt-out clause for the signatory countries.

In formulating a reform of the measure, a move the United States frequently makes with multilateral treaties, Washington aimed to free up U.S. citizens and companies from potential obligations under the FCTC.

But the situation changed on Sunday, when U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Tommy Thompson, made the surprise announcement that the U.S. delegation to the World Health Assembly would vote in favour of the tobacco treaty as it stood.

Representatives from the NGOs said they were "astonished" by Thompson’s statement, and underscored that the anti-tobacco convention is an "important victory" for public health worldwide and ensures legal obligations for "Big Tobacco".

Akinbode Oluwafemi, of the Nigeria-based Environmental Rights Action, said, "The rejection of the U.S. pressure to re-open the FCTC (to debate during the assembly) is testimony to the commitment of developing countries."

"Despite the powerful influence of Big Tobacco, the countries of Africa, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and the Pacific and Caribbean Islands stood firm for an FCTC that will protect current and future generations from a preventable epidemic," said Oluwafemi.

According to WHO statistics, tobacco use is the cause of death of 4.9 million people each year. If current trends continue, that figure will double by 2020, with 70 percent of the deaths occurring in developing countries.

Kathryn Mulvey, executive director of the non-governmental corporate watchdog Infact, based in the U.S. city of Boston, pointed out that U.S. administration of George W. Bush "has close ties to the tobacco industry."

"Secretary Thompson, who leads the U.S. delegation to the WHO, maintained an open-door policy to Philip Morris (now known as Altria) and its Kraft subsidiary while serving as governor of the state of Wisconsin," Mulvey said.

The activist added, "The world will be watching to ensure that the U.S. follows through on its pledge to support the FCTC, and does not put the interests of the tobacco industry ahead of public health."

According to a report from the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the tobacco industry has flourished more than any other in recent years.

Philip Morris, the biggest of Big Tobacco, sees annual revenues of 73 billion dollars, reports Infact.

Despite the dramatic statistics associated with tobacco use around the globe, it was clear at the inauguration of the World Health Assembly that the talks will be dominated by SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), which has claimed 643 lives and infected 7,800 people since it was first diagnosed in November.

WHO Director General Gro Harlem Brundtland, who will step down from her post in July after having served five years, drew parallels between the SARS threat, which she described as the first epidemic of the 21st century, and HIV/AIDS, the major disease of the 20th century.

It is clear that the battle against SARS is not yet won, said Brundtland, and urged the health ministers gathered in Geneva to remain "vigilant".

The WHO leader warned against complacency, noting that such attitudes had contributed to the spread of other diseases.

AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) is today the leading cause of death in Sub-Saharan Africa, is a serious problem in the Caribbean, and is on the rise in Asia and much of Eastern Europe.

There are 42 million people with HIV in the world, and most are in developing countries. Half are under 25.

At the current rate of expansion – 15,000 people infected each day – and without massive efforts to halt the disease, the HIV/AIDS epidemic will have claimed at least 30 million lives.

Among the lessons learned from SARS is the importance of "access to information about diseases outbreaks as soon as they occur," said Brundtland.

Health authorities have criticised China, home to the first SARS case, which appeared in southern Guangdong province, for withholding information about the epidemic until March, when the original cases had been verified in November.

Brundtland called upon governments to share information on SARS in a timely manner, noting that, "since we issued our global alert in mid-March, the disease has still spread to many countries. They have all benefited in their ability to contain and stop the outbreak."

"But we need to ensure this remains the case, so that SARS does not become a burden on countries least able to afford it," she added.