WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control celebrates 20 years of implementation

The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the first and only international public health treaty developed under the aegis of the WHO, which now has 183 parties, entered into force on 27 February 2005. This treaty, which has reduced tobacco use worldwide by a third, has an unprecedented record but is still considered insufficiently implemented to combat the tobacco epidemic and the strategies deployed by the tobacco industry to counter it.[1].

A treaty with incontestable results

Today, this convention includes 183 Parties and covers 90 % of the world's population, or approximately 5.6 billion people. With objectives of reducing tobacco use and protecting present and future generations from the multiple effects of tobacco, the FCTC is based on a multilateral effort and proposes a comprehensive strategy for reducing consumption. These latter concern both supply and demand and have the particularity of having been defined on the basis of scientifically rigorous evidence.

These measures include " including the placement of pictorial health warnings on cigarette packages, the adoption of anti-smoking laws and the increase in taxes on tobacco products, to name a few.[2] » (WHO, 25/02/2025)

The decline in tobacco consumption worldwide reflects the results of the FCTC. From 2000 to 2020, the prevalence of daily or occasional smokers fell from 23.7% to 21.7%. According to the WHO, the decline in smoking among young people is clear, with 20.5% smokers aged 15-24 in 2000 compared to 13.2% in 2022[3]Since 2005, 118 million people worldwide have stopped smoking, with consequences in terms of prevention of cardiovascular, respiratory diseases and cancers.

The number of smokers is thus decreasing in most WHO regions. In 2000, before the FCTC, the number of smokers was estimated at 1.362 billion. Despite demographic changes, the forecast has been reduced to 1.197 billion by 2030, with the rate of decline being very different across regions in the world. Some countries, such as the United Kingdom, have massively reduced their prevalence and the concepts of a tobacco-free generation and "endgame" are increasingly developing. The United Kingdom has particularly committed to a society's exit from tobacco with the adoption of a generational sales ban providing for the continuation of the ban on the sale of tobacco products to people born from 2009[4].

Having become a declining market, the tobacco industry is deploying a reconquest strategy

Despite these results, the downward trend is still often slow and the treaty measures are insufficiently implemented. 1.3 billion people continue to smoke worldwide, while the tobacco industry has been deploying a new strategy in recent years. This strategy is characterized by the marketing of new nicotine products and by the instrumentalization of the health concept of risk reduction. The aim of manufacturers is to restore their seriously damaged image and to appear as responsible companies, providing solutions to the problems caused while fiercely fighting against all measures likely to reduce tobacco consumption.

According to the WHO, more than 8 million people die prematurely each year from smoking. In addition to this health cost, there are other costs for communities. On the economic and financial level, health expenditure and productivity losses represent 1.8% of global GDP each year, while smoking is increasingly becoming a social marker, a source of health inequalities. Similarly, from an environmental point of view, the damage caused by tobacco is significant. Tobacco production and consumption release 80 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the air each year and from cultivation to waste management, tobacco products affect the environment.

WHO Framework Convention more necessary than ever

Public health actors themselves stress that the full implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control remains more necessary than ever, while only 56 countries will achieve their target of reducing tobacco prevalence by one third by 2025. Among the recommendations systematically recalled by the WHO are the implementation of strong tax policies, the elimination of all forms of advertising, the extension of smoke-free places, the management of smokers' cessation, but also the application by all Parties to the treaty of the provisions aimed at protecting their public policies from the lobby and interference of the tobacco industry.

©Generation Without Tobacco

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[1] Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Tedros, Blanco Marquizo, Adriana, “Tobacco remains one of the world's deadliest threats, but a 20-year treaty is slowly stubbing it out”, The Telegraph UK, published February 25, 2025, accessed February 25, 2025

[2] First ever WHO treaty marks 20 years of saving millions of lives worldwide, WHO – Eastern Mediterranean Region, published 25 February 2025, accessed 26 February 2025

[3] National Committee against Smoking, Evolution of tobacco consumption in the world (2000-2030), Tobacco-Free Generation, published January 25, 2024, accessed February 26, 2025

[4] " Generational tobacco ban presented to UK parliament », Generation without tobacco, published on November 9, 2024, consulted on February 26, 2025

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