GLOBAL TOBACCO CONTROL TREATY WILL FUEL SURGE IN STRONG SMOKEFREE AIR POLICIES

GLOBAL TOBACCO CONTROL TREATY WILL FUEL SURGE IN STRONG SMOKEFREE AIR POLICIES
GENEVA – 26 April 2007 – Draft guidelines for implementing a key provision of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC) global tobacco control treaty were released today and call for the 146 countries that have ratified the treaty to pass strong laws prohibiting smoking in virtually all workplaces and public places. The FCTC Article 8 guidelines, which are due to be adopted by the treaty’s governing body at its next meeting this July, will accelerate the global trend toward protecting workers and the public from the dangers of secondhand smoke.The Global Smokefree Partnership (GSP), a new multipartner initiative formed to promote effective smoke-free air policies worldwide, strongly supports the draft guidelines. “This document provides countries with authoritative, practical and proven guidance for implementing smoke-free laws that will meet their obligations under the treaty,” said Deborah Arnott, co-chair of GSP and director of Action on Smoking and Health, London. “We know from experience, and from the evidence, that strong smoke-free laws will save lives and are popular. They are also much easier to implement than the half-way measures proposed by the tobacco industry.”Shoba John, co-chair of GSP and programme director of HealthBridge India, also praised the guidelines. “The GSP already has launched a campaign called ‘Global Voices for a Smokefree World’ to educate and challenge governments to endorse these guidelines, to promote their adoption by the FCTC’s governing body and to implement them as soon as possible,” she said. “We know the tobacco industry and its friends will try to weaken the guidelines, and we want our voices to be heard.”The Global Voices campaign is based on eight principles embraced by the FCTC’s smoke-free air provisions and by the draft implementation guidelines:1. Secondhand smoke is a significant health hazard.2. There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke.3. There is no safe alternative to 100 percent smoke-free public places and workplaces.4. Ventilation, air filtration systems and designated smoking areas or rooms do not protect people from secondhand smoke.5. All people should be protected from secondhand smoke.6. All workers have the right to work in smoke-free workplaces.7. Legislation without exemptions is needed to protect people from the dangers of secondhand smoke.8. Effective enforcement, implementation and monitoring provisions are necessary components of effective legislation.A number of countries already have passed successful laws that provide smoke-free workplaces, including all restaurants, bars and pubs. These countries include Ireland, Uruguay, New Zealand, Scotland, Wales and Bermuda. Many countries are in the process of implementing similar laws. Other countries, such as Canada, Australia and the United States, have passed strong smoke-free laws in scores of provinces, states and cities.If adopted, the guidelines will be considered authoritative, but, unlike the treaty itself, they will not be legally binding. Countries that fail to implement the guidelines will be under significant pressure to do so, and could be asked by the treaty’s governing body to explain their lack of progress. The draft guidelines will be considered for adoption by the governing body at its next meeting in July 2007 in Bangkok, Thailand. The guidelines already have been approved by representatives of a diverse group of countries involved in drafting and reviewing the guidelines, including: Djibouti, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Hungary, Jamaica, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Palau, Panama, Peru, Sweden, United Kingdom, Uruguay, and Vanuatu. The European Community also contributed to the draft. For more information on the guidelines, visit http://www.who.int/gb/fctc/PDF/cop2/FCTC_COP2_7-en.pdf.The Global Smokefree Partnership is a new multipartner initiative formed to promote effective smoke-free air policies worldwide. Partners include Action for the Promotion of Smoke-free Environments (APALTA), Action on Smoking and Health London, American for Nonsmokers Rights, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Cancer Research UK, Coalition for Tobacco Control Pakistan, European Respiratory Society, FCTC Alliance Philippines (FCAP), French National Cancer Institute (INCa), Global Tobacco Research Network, HealthBridge India, HERO-Uganda, International Nongovernmental Coalition Against Tobacco, International Union Against Cancer, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health Institute for Global Tobacco Control, Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance, Pfizer, the World Heart Federation and Action on Smoking and Health. The Partnership is coordinated by the American Cancer Society and the Framework Convention Alliance. For more information on the Global Smokefree Partnership and its Global Voices campaign, visit: www.globalsmokefreepartnership.org.For more information on the FCTC, see the Website of the Framework Convention Alliance at www.fctc.org.