World Health Organization, or WHO, Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, or FCTC, strategies on tobacco control have shown limited effectiveness in Southeast Asia, illustrating the need for a better approach, according to a study by a US-based think tank.
The study by Jeffrey Smith, a senior fellow at the R Street Institute titled “The Impact of Cultural Pressures on Tobacco Harm Reduction Efforts in Southeast Asia,” concluded that the FCTC’s focus on price increases, advertising bans and restrictions on smoke-free spaces has had little impact on preventing the annual death toll of 1.6 million in the region due to smoking.
Smith said FCTC’s measures do not align with the unique political, cultural and economic circumstances of Southeast Asian countries, complicating implementation.
“These efforts are not enough. This becomes especially apparent when looking at the Southeast Asian region of the world, where the measures that the FCTC promotes fail to align with individual countries’ needs — in large part because of the way tobacco is tied to that region’s political, cultural and financial circumstances,” he said.
Options of less harm
Dr. Lorenzo Mata, president of the Philippine non-profit advocacy group Quit For Good, supports Smith’s findings and suggested that WHO FCTC delegates attending the 10th Conference of the Parties in Panama consider alternative approaches such as tobacco harm reduction or THR.
THR involves offering smokers less harmful alternatives to cigarettes, such as vapes, heated tobacco, and oral nicotine products, to reduce exposure to smoke.
Delegates from over 180 countries are discussing crucial topics, including the availability of “novel and emerging tobacco and nicotine products,” at COP 10 in Panama City from 5 to 10 February.
Mata and other health advocates at COP 10 urged delegates to explore science-based solutions like THR to address the global smoking epidemic. They said that granting adult smokers access to affordable, reduced-risk nicotine products, like electronic nicotine delivery systems, or ENDS, heated tobacco and oral nicotine products, could save millions of lives and improve public health outcomes.