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Mission
To provide the world with strategies and tools to counter tobacco industry interference and promote policy coherence in tobacco control at the national, regional, and global levels
The challenge
At the WHO FCTC Knowledge Hub (KH) for Article 5.3, we want to solve the single greatest obstacle to tobacco control implementation: Tobacco industry’s interference.
With the tobacco industry’s dynamic approaches, governments are caught off guard, advocates are on a reactionary mode, and intergovernmental organizations are unaware. The most potent tool to counter the tobacco industry’s tactics exists and it is embodied in Article 5.3 of the WHO FCTC and its Guidelines for Implementation.
Article 5.3 provides that “In setting public health policies with respect to tobacco control, Parties shall act to protect these policies from the commercial and vested interests of the tobacco industry.”
The opportunity
Life-saving tobacco control measures are stunted if the tobacco industry continues to interfere. The world has taken some action to change this: Some countries have adopted measures to safeguard public officers from tobacco industry interactions. The UN General Assembly, in its 2011 high level meeting on NCDs, recognized the fundamental conflict of interest between public health and the tobacco industry. The UNDP has adopted a policy to reject funding from the tobacco industry, and the UN Global Compact had excluded the tobacco industry from its participants. But there is more to be done.
In the spirit of strengthening tobacco control in order to save lives, WHO FCTC Knowledge Hub (KH) for Article 5.3 aims to provide actionable tools and whole of government strategies to overcome challenges brought on by the tobacco industry and those seeking to represent its interests.
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WHO FCTC Knowledge Hub for Article 5.3
WHO FCTC Knowledge Hub for Article 5.3 is a combination of the academic discipline, diversity, and global reach of the School of Global Studies, Thammasat University and Mahidol University in countering tobacco industry interference to move tobacco control measures forward at the country, regional, and global levels.
With the support of the Ministry of Public Health Thailand, we were designated by the Secretariat of the WHO FCTC to serve as the WHO FCTC Knowledge Hub for Article 5.3 to support implementation of the Convention’s obligation on protecting against tobacco industry interference.
The COP7 requested the Convention Secretariat to establish a Knowledge Hub for Article 5.3 that coordinates the work of experts to develop international cooperation, including cooperation with other Knowledge Hubs, as appropriate, and with the Observatories; is responsive to regional economic groupings in the development of innovative ways to engage non-health sectors nationally, regionally and globally; assists Parties upon request in developing strategies to counter tobacco industry interference in bilateral, regional and global relations to promote global awareness of Article 5.3; supports Parties in developing strategies to counter the tobacco industry’s misleading information related to the WHO FCTC and tobacco control; and promotes mechanisms, including technical assistance and tools, to assist country-level implementation of Article 5.3.
WHO FCTC KH for Article 5.3 is committed to work with the Convention Secretariat, among others, to develop, analyse, synthesize and disseminate to the Parties to the Convention knowledge and information through online materials and training, including in meetings and missions.