The framework convention on tobacco of the World Health Organization, which is held in New Delhi until 12 November, has begun amidst controversy. It's not the first time WHO conferences have been held behind closed doors, but this time journalists were physically removed, even with the bad news: this is testified by a video released by some US media, according to which Drew Johnson, correspondent of the Daily Caller, was even stripped of his journalistic card.
To the tension with the press must be added the protest of about 500 farmers in the tobacco sector, coming from various countries, who were denied access to the conference. Some of them have even been arrested. The concerns, in their case, concern the increasingly extremist attitude of the WHO towards tobacco, which could penalize the production chain as it also questions new products (including electronic cigarettes and alternative products that contain tobacco), without taking into account the principle of reducing shared risk e supported by much of the scientific world.
The FCTC, which stands for Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, is the first international treaty on public health: it entered into force in 2005, it involves over 180 countries, including those of the European Union. Now in its seventh year, the convention aims to reduce tobacco use and encourage smoking cessation. An important goal, since smoking is the second cause of death in the world (among those that can be avoided) and in 2020, according to estimates, smokers in the world will reach one billion, but which according to many insiders is being pursued in the wrong and least participatory way possible In fact, NGOs linked to the sector can also ask to intervene at the conference, but the FCTC can reserve the right to accept or reject the request. In Italy, for example, the Italian Anti-Smoking League (LIAF) was also rejected, together with 11 other NGOs worldwide.
However, the protests of these days are only the latest episode of one controversy that continues to involve the WHO, accused of excluding from its work both countries (as happened for some African countries including Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania), and non-profit associations and maintain privileged relations with some countries that are certainly not champions of democracy. Indeed, there is no doubt that the last destinations chosen for the meetings were Turkey, Russia – twice – and, just last April, Turkmenistan, countries respectively number 151, 148 and 178 (out of a total of 180) in the ranking on freedom of print created by the Journalists Without Borders movement. While waiting to find out what will emerge from the work, it seems clear that the press and transparency are not appreciated by the World Health Organization.
