Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: As the World Health Organisation (WHO) hosts seventh biennial Conference of Parties (COP7) starting from Monday to adopt stringent anti-tobacco measures, the controversies attached to the event have greatly put at stake its credibility and significance.

The conference is being held in New Delhi, under the auspices of the WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) with delegates from across the world scheduled to show up at the event.

Lately, the moot has been in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. Raising eyebrows, the WHO has banned participation of vital stakeholders of tobacco sector including representatives of the tobacco industry, government and semi-government bodies dealing with tobacco sector from attending the conference.

In one-of-a-kind move, the media has also been barred from the event’s coverage as well. From Pakistan, a Health Ministry delegation was initially designated to attend the conference. Sources in the ministry said that on account of heightened Pak-India tension, Pakistani delegates would not attend the moot.

“We are not optimistic if any effective measures would be devised in COP 7 to reduce the harmful effects of smoking. In such a closed-door environment based on exclusion, instead of inclusion and openness – which so undermines the UN’s own consultative approach-based policies on given issues – the results of this futile exercise are obvious,” insiders commented.

The COP7 has also faced serious criticism for being an anti-tobacco moot that aims at destroying altogether the tobacco sector in complete disregard to the ground realities, instead of focusing on the reduction of hazardous effects of smoking.

This is bound to entail detrimental effects on tobacco-growing countries like Pakistan, India, Thailand, China, Cuba, Egypt, Bulgaria and several other states where legitimate tobacco sector contributes significantly in terms of revenues and employment to strengthen national economies.

In Pakistan alone, more than 70,000 cultivators and their families estimated to be in hundreds of thousands are associated with tobacco cultivation as tobacco sector makes its contributions to Pakistan’s economy by paying heavy taxes and generating livelihood opportunities.

Globally, over three million farmers are involved in tobacco cultivation whose livelihood might land in danger due to “unrealistic and coercive decisions expected to be taken in controversial COP 7”.

In addition, the WHO has long been regarded as increasingly hostile towards vaping or e-cigarettes technology. Authentic estimates and researches indicate “vaping would become an equal alternative to smoking within the next 30 years to extend billions of lives but excessive and largely unjustified regulations of WHO have posed a serious challenge to this innovative phenomenon”.

Vaping – although not considered safe – is considered 95 percent safer than smoking and it enables smokers an alternative that they can accept, rather than just putting forward the message of “quit or die”.

Resultantly, concerns are being raised worldwide that unnecessary restrictions advocated and practiced by the WHO could kill this technology and thereby slow down or halt this revolution in harm reduction.