WMA Resolution on implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on tobacco control

Adopted by the 170^th WMA Council Session, Divonne-les-Bains, France, May 2005
revised by the 67th WMA General Assembly, Taipei, Taiwan, October 2016,
reaffirmed with minor revisions by the 218^th WMA Council session (online), London, United Kingdom, October 2021 and by the 233rd WMA Council, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, October 2026

The World Medical Association:

1. Acknowledges the essential role of health professionals in tobacco control and urges its constituent members and other representatives of the medical community to use World No Tobacco Day each year to advocate for tobacco control measures;
2. Recognises the importance of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) as a mechanism to protect people from exposure and addiction to tobacco;
3. Encourages Member States to the Convention to ratify, accept, approve, confirm or accede to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products;
4. Urges governments to fully implement and strengthen measures to regulate electronic nicotine and non-nicotine delivery systems (ENDS/ENNDS), in line with relevant WHO FCTC decisions, given their potential exposure to toxic substances, including carcinogens, and their increasing use, particularly among young people;
5. Encourages its constituent members to work assiduously and energetically to get their governments to implement the measures set out in the FCTC as a minimum;
6. In line with its Statement on Electronic Cigarettes and Other Electronic Nicotine Delivery systems, calls on Member States to include e-cigarettes and other electronic nicotine delivery systems in the scope of application of the WHO Framework Convention and to ensure that these products be subjected to local regulatory approval and be entrenched in smoke free laws;
7. Urges governments to introduce regulations and other control measures as described in the FCTC, including regulation of smokeless tobacco products. Governments should ban smoking and vaping in public places and workplaces as an urgent public health intervention and consider additional measures, especially tobacco control measures that have proven successful in other countries;
8. Urges governments to introduce initiatives that break brand recognition, including plain packaging of cigarettes and other smoking products, as stated in its Statement on Health Hazards of Tobacco Products and Tobacco-Derived Products.
9. Strongly encourages governments to set a distinct method to ensure adequate funding for tobacco control and research;
10. Urges governments to promote ready access to smoking cessation advice and services to all smokers, including children;
11. Recognises the vital role of health professionals in public health education and in promoting smoking cessation;
12. Urges governments to combats the tobacco industry’s predatory marketing tactics by adopting comprehensive bans on advertising, promotion and sponsorship, as set forth in the WHO FCTC, in order to protect the health of individuals and communities;
13. Urges governments and other relevant stakeholders to contributes to the improvements and updating of international tobacco control regulations as needed.