Clear The Air News Tobacco Blog Rotating Header Image

Proposed Guidelines for the Implementation of Article 8

China (Hong Kong) has ratified the FCTC treaty, yet its requirements are not being enforced in Hong Kong.

The rationale for protection from exposure to tobacco smoke is clearly stated in Article 8.1 of the FCTC, in which Parties accept the overwhelming scientific consensus that second-hand smoke kills:

Parties recognize that scientific evidence has unequivocally established that exposure to tobacco smoke causes death, disease and disability.

In the time since the Convention was negotiated, the scientific consensus that exposure to tobacco smoke causes death, disease and disability has grown ever stronger, with the publication of important new expert reports, including those by the UK Scientific Committee on Tobacco or Health, 1 the US Surgeon General, 2 the French National Assembly, 3 the California Environmental Protection Agency,4 and others. These authorities further confirm that exposure to tobacco smoke causes a variety of illnesses, including fatal illnesses, in adults and children.

During this time, civil society has played a central role in educating opinion leaders, stakeholders and the general public in many countries about the hazards of exposure to tobacco smoke and the benefits of smoke-free legislation. Advocacy organizations, academic experts and institutions, medical associations and health professionals have all contributed to an ongoing transformation in the world’s understanding of this global problem. As the proposed guidelines acknowledge, civil society has a central role to play in building support for smoke-free measures, and must be an active partner in developing, implementing and enforcing legislation (Proposed guidelines, para 10).

Most importantly, since the negotiation of the FCTC, many national jurisdictions, including several States Parties, have adopted laws that provide almost universal protection against tobacco smoke in all indoor public places and indoor workplaces. The number of subnational jurisdictions with such laws has also grown quickly. Evidence surrounding the implementation of these laws shows a remarkably similar pattern. Smoke-free laws are effective. They are practical, workable, and economically beneficial. They are popular, enjoying exceptionally high levels of public support.

Read more on the Joint Briefing Paper: Proposed Guidelines for the Implementation of Article 8 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>