By Munyaradzi Blessing Doma
The Conference of the Parties (COP) of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) has been ignoring emerging scientific evidence on tobacco harm reduction. Experts say the organisation continues to enforce restrictions that are not fit for purpose, while global smoking rates remain high.
Tobacco harm reduction refers to the use of safer alternatives to cigarettes, including e-cigarettes, vapes, heat-not-burn products, pouches, and snus. These products are designed to provide nicotine with fewer health risks than traditional smoking.
Critics argue that COP WHO FCTC experts remain fixated on regulating the tobacco industry, rather than focusing on strategies to help people quit smoking using these safer nicotine products.
The criticism was voiced by David Williams, President of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, during the Good COP 2.0 panel, co-hosted with Martin Cullip, Senior International Fellow at the Taxpayers Protection Alliance. Good COP 2.0 runs concurrently with the 11th COP in Geneva, Switzerland.
The Good COP 2.0 is the sequel to Good COP 1.0, held in Panama in 2024,” said Williams. He added that the current event would surpass its predecessor due to broader participation, with 23 countries and 39 experts represented.
Williams shared a personal reflection from a breakfast discussion with a fellow attendee about the purpose of attending the COP. They agreed there was no need to “try to convince the World Health Organisation of an issue that is so simple and so plain and where the science is so clear.”
Cullip described the COP WHO FCTC as increasingly irrelevant. He said it does not focus on “how we help people to quit smoking using safer nicotine products because the WHO refuses to accept it.”
Williams also recounted his father’s struggles with smoking, which had a devastating impact on his health, family and career.
“It took a toll on my father’s marriage, his personal life, his professional life, and his physical life, because it ended it pretty quickly. I wish products like vaping, e-cigarettes, heat-not-burn devices, pouches and snus had been available to him. I really believe they would have prolonged his life.”
He added that scientific evidence clearly shows smoke-free products are less harmful.
“Now we have a taxpayer-funded bureaucracy trying to keep these products from consumers. What I love is that consumers are a lot smarter than the WHO because they know these products work. Despite government bans, people are using them.”
Williams cited Sweden as a successful example of tobacco harm reduction, where smoking rates have fallen while people continue to use nicotine responsibly. He emphasised that nicotine itself is not the problem, pointing to nicotine replacement therapies approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
While acknowledging the FCTC was well-intentioned at its inception 20 years ago, Williams said its focus has shifted away from practical solutions.
Cullip highlighted that WHO’s own studies show 1.35 billion smokers or users of harmful tobacco products globally. “Yet the organization focuses on the 150 million people using safer nicotine products. They are ignoring 1.35 billion while targeting 150 million. They have lost their way.”
He added that the treaty was originally designed to address smoking, not nicotine addiction. “It has never been about nicotine, despite claims to the contrary. The treaty wasn’t written for that.”
Derek Yach, former WHO Cabinet Director and co-author of the treaty, recently expressed disagreement with its current direction during a webinar. Cullip said, “The frustrating part is that WHO is so fixated on the tobacco industry that they refuse to work with it.”
Critics also raised concerns about the increasing secrecy of COP WHO FCTC meetings. Williams recounted an instance in India where an observer was forced out by security, and at the Panama meeting, invited participants with no tobacco industry ties were denied access to the public gallery.
“We specifically selected people with no industry ties. They are advocates, people who quit smoking or use safer nicotine products. Everyone who applied was rejected with a one-sentence letter, unsigned and without explanation,” said Williams.
While other United Nations meetings are generally open to the public, COP WHO FCTC remains largely closed. “How many people attended the recent climate change conference? Thousands. They are allowed in, but not at this one,” Cullip noted.
He added, “We had everyday consumers applying with no industry ties, and they were denied. The likely reason was that they were seen as supporting nicotine products because the tobacco industry sells them. That is a ridiculous claim.”
