M Tshabalala-Msimang: WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco
Control

6 February 2006

I am proud to say that as of today, more than half of the countries in
Africa have ratified the FCTC and I would like to congratulate the countries
that are now moving forward into the implementation stage.

We have a saying in Africa that you have to wait for the fruit to ripen
before you take it from the tree. And we have another saying that those who eat
the fruit of a tree are also responsible for tending the trees and sowing new
seeds.

Over the past five years we in Africa, together with the rest of you, have
carefully tended the tree of international tobacco control. Now the time has
come to collectively eat some of the fruit and also for us to prepare the soil
for new fruit.

That is what we have come here to do at the first Conference of the Parties
to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

Since the beginning of the negotiations towards the FCTC, which formally
commenced in October 2000, in this very building, we have repeatedly heard the
sad statistics that tobacco, which is the world's leading cause of preventable
death, kills nearly 5 million people per year. And for those of us from the
global south, it is very alarming to know that, if the current trends continue,
70% of deaths from tobacco-related causes will occur in the developing
countries.

The prevalence of tobacco use in Africa has always been relatively low,
especially amongst women. And traditionally our young people do not use tobacco
products. But that is now changing and it is changing rapidly. This is not
because we, as Africans, want to adopt unhealthy behaviours.

The reason that women and young people in Africa are starting to use tobacco
because the tobacco industry is harshly targeting them. It has decided,
cold-bloodedly, that we should become replacement users of tobacco products. At
a time when more and more people in the global north, who are now fully aware
of the dangers of tobacco use, are quitting, Africans are being targeted to
replace them.

It has now been established, without question, that the tobacco epidemic is
being driven forcefully by the tobacco corporations. In pariah-like fashion
they are seeking to make staggeringly large financial profits for themselves
and shareholders by enticing people, especially in the global south, to use
their addictive products.

This is unconscionable. Yet it persists. The tobacco industry has enormous
wealth. It can buy seductive and flashy advertising for its deadly products. It
can provide enticing sponsorships and thus promote its deadly products. It can
use its representatives in great numbers and in subtle and sophisticated ways,
to attempt to influence health policies, especially in developing countries.
And, it can afford expensive legal challenges in countries that are trying, by
all means at their disposal, to curb tobacco use.

For decades, this deadly deception was unfettered. Then the challenges came.
Now the challenges to the tobacco industry are growing ever stronger and more
forceful.

It is our belief that one of the most effective tools in our struggle to
decrease tobacco use and to raise the level of health of our people is the new
WHO FCTC. Through this international treaty, we are uniting to protect our
peoples from the expansion of the tobacco industry and the devastating effect
that it will have on the lives of individuals and on the scarce resources that
countries in the global south have to spend on healthcare.

We must make sure that as we move forward into the implementation of the
FCTC, we continue to stand strong so that we can be effective. We must continue
to be visionary and vigilant so that we can ensure that the FCTC reaches its
full potential.

In order to do this we need several things. Firstly, we need a secretariat
that is accountable to the Conference of the Parties and that will diligently
promote and implement the FCTC between sessions of the Conference of the
Parties.

Secondly, the secretariat must be properly funded and it must be fairly
funded. Moreover, available funding should, we believe, be distributed in such
a way that, less of the money is used to run the headquarters in Geneva and
more money is allocated for programs and projects in countries.

Thirdly, the secretariat must be able to make use of the services of people
with the necessary skills and capacity, including unimpeachable integrity.

Finally, the secretariat must be fully capable of excluding interference by
the tobacco industry, by non-parties to the treaty and any others who would
wish to interfere unduly, with the health goals that have already been clearly
articulated in the treaty.

Article 24 of the FCTC and the draft Rules of Procedure clearly establish
the authority of the Conference of the Parties over the secretariat of the
FCTC. However, questions arose during the Intergovernmental Working Group
meetings, regarding the relationship between the permanent secretariat and the
WHO.

In the interests of smooth functioning and the optimal use of resources, we
would like to make the following suggestion: That the World Health Assembly and
the Conference of the Parties should enter into an agreement, by means of a
formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoA). This should expressly define the
specific terms of their relationship. The MoA should be approved by the
Conference of the Parties and then by the World Health Assembly.

Scientific evidence now indicates that the tobacco epidemic is going to
affect those of us who live in the global south, disproportionately. And
ironically, as all of us here today already know, we have insufficient
resources to deal with our burden of communicable disease, let alone the burden
of non-communicable diseases.

We have already proved, through our committed participation in the FCTC
negotiations and in the speed with which many of us have ratified the
convention, that we are, indeed, very serious about tobacco control in our
countries and our region, Africa.

But we will need assistance to implement the treaty. Assistance in drawing
up the necessary legislation and other relevant interventions. We therefore
request, right at the outset of this implementation phase of the convention,
that in all of our deliberations and planning, we bear in mind the special
needs of Africa. We trust that we have already, by our deep and unswerving
commitment to the treaty negotiation process, proved, beyond any doubt, exactly
how serious we are about curbing the tobacco epidemic. But we need your
assistance. And we trust that, in the same spirit in which we negotiated the
FCTC, we can continue to count on your collective support.

May we work well together over the days to come. And may everything that we
do here bear magnificent fruit so that collectively, we can reap, sow and reap
again, until we eliminate death and disease from the use of tobacco
products.

Issued by: Ministry of Health
6 February 2006