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Countries of the Americas agree on new strategy to strengthen tobacco control

Oct 04, 2024 News

Kaieteur News – During the 61st Directing Council of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), high-level health authorities approved a new strategy aimed at enhancing tobacco control in the region.

This initiative seeks to bolster efforts against smoking while addressing emerging challenges, such as the rising use of electronic cigarettes among youth, PAHO said in a press release on Thursday. Each year, one million people die from tobacco use in the Americas. Despite the decrease in consumption rates, it is estimated that 133 million adults and 5 million adolescents aged 13 to 15 continue to use tobacco. The substance represents one of the main threats to public health, creating considerable social, economic, and environmental burdens on countries.

The Strategy and Plan of Action to Strengthen Tobacco Control in the Region of the Americas 2025-2030 aims to accelerate the implementation of measures contained in the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in the region, promoting healthier, more sustainable and equitable environments, and prioritizing the protection of young people, women and lower income populations.

“There is still much to be done to combat one of the world’s leading preventable causes of death. This new resolution will help advance proven measures that are cost-effective in reducing tobacco consumption and protecting health, especially among people in vulnerable situations,” Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, Director of PAHO said.

The strategy identifies youth as a central target for the tobacco industry, which seeks to attract children and adolescents to replace tobacco users who quit smoking or died. In addition, there is an increasingly aggressive promotion of emerging products aimed at this target population, such as electronic cigarettes, whose consumption among young people exceeds that of adult populations in most countries.

The five measures of the FCTC recognized by the WHO as the “best buys” to prevent and control noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) form the basis and starting point of the new strategy and plan of action. By discouraging tobacco use and nicotine addiction, it will also contribute to environmental protection and promote an economy that prioritizes the health of the population over the profits of industries that depend on the sale of harmful products.

Five strategic lines of action

The regional strategy establishes five lines of action:

Implementation of effective measures to regulate the consumption, marketing and advertising of conventional and emerging tobacco products.

Implementation of pricing and taxation measures to reduce tobacco demand.

Provision of comprehensive quality services that support effective cessation efforts and proper treatment for tobacco dependence.

Ratification of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and the Protocol to Eliminate the Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products.

Strengthening the capacity of Member States to develop public health policies that counter tobacco industry interference.

The new strategy responds to a request from PAHO Member States during PAHO’s 60th Directing Council last year, who sought support to develop a strategy and plan of action to continue efforts to implement the most cost-effective tobacco control measures and address challenges such as digital marketing tactics and ongoing tobacco industry interference.

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