The tobacco epidemic is still one of the world’s deadliest threats

In the past 20 years, tobacco use has dropped by one-third globally, and there are an estimated 118 million fewer tobacco users today compared with 2005.

Why? In large part because 20 years ago this week, after years of negotiation, the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) entered into force – one of the most widely embraced United Nations treaties in history.

The WHO FCTC was, and remains, a landmark in international law: the first treaty negotiated under the WHO Constitution, incorporating multiple measures to control the demand and supply of tobacco.

Today the convention has 183 parties, covering 90 percent of the world’s population. More than 5.6 billion people are protected by the comprehensive implementation of at least one tobacco control measure.

For example, 138 countries now require large pictorial health warnings on cigarette packages, and dozens of countries have implemented plain packaging rules that prohibit branding on cigarette packages, making them less attractive.

In addition, 66 countries have implemented bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship; more than one-quarter of the world’s population is protected by bans on indoor smoking and other smoke-free laws; and increased taxes on tobacco products to reduce their affordability remains the most cost-effective tool to reduce consumption. Tobacco taxes can also raise government revenues for tobacco control and health financing.

Furthermore, in 2018, an additional legal instrument entered into force: A protocol to eliminate all forms of illicit trade in tobacco products, which undermines control measures, diminishes tax revenue, and fuels criminal activities.

Despite this progress, tobacco remains the world’s leading cause of preventable death and a major driver of heart disease, stroke, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, and diabetes.

There remain about 1.3 billion tobacco users globally, prompted by a multibillion-dollar industry that peddles addictive and deadly products and profits from the suffering of those who use them.