Table 3 Western Pacific Regional Committee Meeting mentions for tobacco control, human rights, World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (2010–2019)
WPR Regional Committee Meeting | Human Rights Mentioned | Tobacco, Tobacco Use, Tobacco Control Mentioned | WHO FCTC Mentioned | Human Rights + Tobacco Control Mentioned | Observations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sixty-First Session, 2010 | X | X | X | Human rights often mentioned in the context of health systems and gender equity; tobacco control and WHO FCTC mentioned in context of health promotion | |
Sixty-Second Session, 2011 | X | X | X | Mentions on tobacco industry interference in lawmaking and regulatory functioning | |
Sixty-Third Session, 2012 | X | X | X | Mentions human rights treaties, however no connection between these treaties and tobacco-use disparities | |
Sixty-Fourth Session, 2013 | X | X | X | X | Not specifically to tobacco, but “Western Pacific Regional Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases (2014–2020)” states “Prevention and control strategies must be formulated and implemented in accordance with international human rights conventions and agreements.” |
Sixty-Fifth Session, 2014 | X | X | X | X | The Tobacco Free-Initiative Regional Action Plan (2015–2019) notes that the WHO FCTC recognizes the right to health; calls on members to identify civil society organizations concerned with women’s and children’s rights to work with on tobacco control; adds the inclusion of a rights indicator for evaluating country tobacco control measures; and calls on WHO and WPRO to provide technical assistance for countries and groups working to advance human rights and health as well as “advocate for the inclusion of tobacco control in the global, regional, and national health development agendas” including those pertaining to the SDG, CRC, and CEDAW. |
Sixty-Sixth Session, 2015 | X | X | X | Human rights and tobacco control were minimally mentioned in this RCM | |
Sixty-Seventh Session, 2016 | X | X | X | X | Human rights and tobacco control are generally mentioned de minimis, however included substantial discussion on the SDG which included discussion on human rights, tobacco control, WHO FCTC, and human rights treaties e.g. CRC and CEDAW |
Sixty-Eighth Session, 2017 | X | X | RCM noted the CRC and a Human Rights Council resolution pertaining to the right to health for children with respect to food marketing, however this did not manifest in tobacco control | ||
Sixty-Ninth Session, 2018 | X | X | X | Human rights and tobacco control were minimally mentioned in this RCM | |
Seventieth Session, 2019 | X | X | Tobacco control was a major agenda item for this RCM, however human rights were insignificantly mentioned |