{"id":26769,"date":"2026-05-05T07:00:53","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T05:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.generationsanstabac.org\/?post_type=actualites&p=26769"},"modified":"2026-05-04T13:29:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T11:29:11","slug":"des-experts-soulignent-le-role-cle-de-la-lutte-antitabac-dans-le-respect-des-droits-humains-fondamentaux","status":"publish","type":"actualites","link":"https:\/\/www.generationsanstabac.org\/en\/actualites\/des-experts-soulignent-le-role-cle-de-la-lutte-antitabac-dans-le-respect-des-droits-humains-fondamentaux\/","title":{"rendered":"Experts emphasize the key role of tobacco control in respecting fundamental human rights"},"content":{"rendered":"

On April 29, 2026, the US-based anti-tobacco organization Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), in collaboration with Generation Without Tobacco (GST) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, hosted a webinar dedicated to integrating tobacco control into human rights measures. Speakers reiterated that the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) is a human rights convention and emphasized the strong legal obligations of States to protect populations' rights to health, life, and information, in the face of tobacco industry actors who continue to kill on a massive scale, target young people, and obstruct prevention policies.<\/em><\/p>\n

The right to health as an obligation of States<\/h2>\n

Khaled Hassine, from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, placed tobacco within the framework of international law. He began by noting that the Convention on Tobacco Control (CTC) is a key instrument of this international human rights architecture. According to him, this international treaty, ratified by 183 states, has profoundly shaped the global response to one of the most critical and preventable public health challenges, while also giving concrete expression to everyone's right to the highest attainable standard of health. The fight against tobacco is thus described as a direct component of states' legal obligations, and not simply an optional policy.<\/p>\n

He also emphasized that tobacco control is a fundamental obligation of States under applicable international conventions. Article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights mandates the prevention of disease, the regulation of harmful industries, and the guarantee of access to essential health services, including smoking cessation support. The actions of this Covenant are framed within the AAAQ framework: Availability, Accessibility, Acceptability, and Quality, which serves as an analytical tool for evaluating public policies. The underlying principle is that health services, information, and prevention measures must be available in sufficient quantities, accessible to all without discrimination, culturally appropriate, and scientifically sound.<\/p>\n

Similarly, UN mechanisms for monitoring human rights conventions, including the Universal Periodic Review and special procedures, are levers for strengthening the fight against tobacco use and tobacco industry practices. These bodies are described as a complementary ecosystem capable of producing recommendations, monitoring implementation gaps, and supporting national reforms. Civil society emerges as a key actor, generating reports, producing data and expertise, and making recommendations to address gaps through dialogue with States.<\/p>\n

Making tobacco a global issue of fundamental human rights<\/h2>\n

Kelsey Romeo-Stuppy, avocate chez ASH, a expliqu\u00e9 que le tabac n\u2019est pas seulement une question de pr\u00e9vention sanitaire, mais une atteinte aux droits humains. Cette approche repose sur le constat que le tabac viole plusieurs droits, au premier rang desquels le droit \u00e0 la sant\u00e9. Or les \u00c9tats ont le devoir de prot\u00e9ger leurs citoyens contre les dommages caus\u00e9s par l\u2019industrie du tabac. Diff\u00e9rentes initiatives ont \u00e9t\u00e9 engag\u00e9es par des pays dans le cadre des conventions relatives aux droits humains. \u00c0 titre d\u2019illustration, les rapports de la soci\u00e9t\u00e9 civile en Colombie et en Espagne ont conduit \u00e0 la reconnaissance officielle par le Comit\u00e9 des droits de l’enfant (CRC), l’organe conventionnel des Nations Unies charg\u00e9 de prot\u00e9ger les droits des enfants, de la menace que repr\u00e9sente le tabagisme chez les enfants dans ces deux pays. \u00c0 l’appel de nombreuses ONG de sant\u00e9 publique dont ASH et le Comit\u00e9 national contre le tabagisme (CNCT), ce Comit\u00e9 a ainsi appel\u00e9 les deux pays \u00e0 prot\u00e9ger les enfants contre l\u2019usage des produits du tabac gr\u00e2ce \u00e0 des politiques antitabac plus strictes.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, Kelsey Romeo-Stuppy emphasizes that tobacco products kill when used exactly as their manufacturers intended, without the need for excessive or misuse. Therefore, the goal is to prevent complete consumption and gradually work towards ending the sale of these products. This approach aligns with the goal of phasing tobacco out of society, a topic under discussion internationally for several years, and which is beginning to be implemented in various countries (within the European Union, in Australia, in the US states of California and Massachusetts, etc.). It is within this framework that the generational sales ban implemented in the Maldives and in the United Kingdom<\/a>. Other measures are also being studied or are underway, such as drastically reducing the number of points of sale through the retailer licensing system, or even eliminating cigarette filters\u2026<\/p>\n

Illustration of France's rapid progress in the fight against smoking<\/h2>\n

France has seen a rapid increase in smoking prevalence, particularly among young people, thanks to the implementation of strong and structured public policies. The perception of smoking has changed in every respect. The commitment of a member of parliament like Nicolas Thierry, a French Green Party MP, is a prime example of this.<\/p>\n

Ce dernier a rappel\u00e9 que le tabac repr\u00e9sente encore aujourd\u2019hui la premi\u00e8re cause de mortalit\u00e9 \u00e9vitable dans le pays avec 68 000 d\u00e9c\u00e8s en 2023. D\u2019une mani\u00e8re g\u00e9n\u00e9rale, le tabagisme induit un co\u00fbt social de 156 milliards d’euros par an et frappe de mani\u00e8re in\u00e9galitaire les populations les plus pr\u00e9caires. Enfin, il constitue une catastrophe environnementale, polluant massivement les sols et les cours d’eau. Dans le monde, il est responsable de 5 % de la d\u00e9forestation.<\/p>\n

In this context, he has repeatedly pledged his support for strong measures to combat smoking, as well as new tobacco and nicotine products brought to market by the industry. In particular, he has filed a A proposed law aims to create the first "tobacco-free generation" by banning the sale of tobacco to people born from 2014 onwards who will reach the age of majority in 2032.<\/a>. Inspir\u00e9e d\u2019une loi similaire adopt\u00e9e au Royaume-Uni, cette mesure progressive ne constitue pas une interdiction brutale mais une strat\u00e9gie de pr\u00e9vention, parce qu\u2019elle cible les enfants actuellement \u00e0 la fin de l’\u00e9cole primaire ou au d\u00e9but du coll\u00e8ge, tout en \u00e9vitant une interdiction brutale de commercialisation pour les fumeurs actuels, mesure de prohibition qui risquerait de favoriser les march\u00e9s illicites. Ainsi, l\u2019industrie du tabac ne peut pas invoquer cette crainte pour contrer la mesure.<\/p>\n

Par ailleurs, le d\u00e9put\u00e9 a rappel\u00e9 que les industriels du tabac investissent dans de nouveaux produits nicotiniques pour rester leaders sur le march\u00e9 de la d\u00e9pendance, soulignant l’importance de lutter contre la nicotine. The latest OFDT survey reveals an increase in vaping among high school students and an increase in nicotine initiation through vaping among non-smokers.<\/a>. Le d\u00e9put\u00e9 a ainsi soulign\u00e9 l’importance de lutter contre le marketing agressif des produits de vapotage aupr\u00e8s des jeunes, rappelant qu\u2019il est avec un autre d\u00e9put\u00e9 \u00e0 l\u2019origine d\u2019une Proposed law to extend plain packaging to all tobacco and vaping products<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to the MP, unlike the United Kingdom, France is at the very beginning of the process, and this approach must be accompanied by complementary measures within a comprehensive framework. He highlighted one of the country's major difficulties: the tobacco industry in France is represented less by manufacturers than by tobacconists, who are particularly hostile to health policies concerning tobacco and new products.<\/p>\n

\u00a9Generation Without Tobacco<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

AD<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

National Committee Against Smoking |<\/a><\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On April 29, 2026, the US-based anti-tobacco organization Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), in collaboration with Generation Without Tobacco (GST) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, hosted a webinar dedicated to integrating tobacco control into human rights measures. Speakers reiterated that the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) is a human rights convention and emphasized the strong legal obligations of States to protect populations' rights to health, life, and information, in the face of tobacco industry actors who continue to kill on a massive scale, target young people, and obstruct prevention policies.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":26772,"template":"","tags":[],"thematique":[491],"class_list":["post-26769","actualites","type-actualites","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","thematique-politiques-publiques"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.generationsanstabac.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/actualites\/26769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.generationsanstabac.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/actualites"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.generationsanstabac.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/actualites"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.generationsanstabac.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/actualites\/26769\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26774,"href":"https:\/\/www.generationsanstabac.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/actualites\/26769\/revisions\/26774"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.generationsanstabac.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.generationsanstabac.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.generationsanstabac.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26769"},{"taxonomy":"thematique","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.generationsanstabac.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/thematique?post=26769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}