APA-Lilongwe (Malawi) Malawi’s ratification of the World Health Organization (WHO)’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) came into effect this week, placing the country among 182 other nations committed to a tobacco-free future.
WHO country representative Neema Rusibamayila Kimambo said Malawi’s ratification of the FCTC entered into force on Thursday, three months after the country deposited its instruments of ratification with the WHO FCTC Secretariat in August.
“WHO congratulates Malawi for this historic step and reaffirms its strong commitment to collaborating closely with the government to achieve the shared goals of the WHO FCTC,” Kimambo said.
She said the decision by Malawi to join the community of 182 other parties to the FCTC affirming the southern African country’s “high-level political commitment to combatting the global tobacco epidemic and prioritizing public health and well-being.”
The FCTC, which entered into force in February 2005 and was ratified by Malawi in August 2023, provides an internationally coordinated response to combating the tobacco epidemic.
The treaty sets out specific steps for governments in addressing tobacco use and production, including adopting tax and price measures to reduce tobacco consumption; banning tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship; creating smoke-free work and public spaces; putting prominent health warnings on tobacco packages; and combating illicit trade in tobacco products.
Kimambo noted that Malawi’s ratification demonstrates the country’s determination to protect present and future generations from the devastating health, social, environmental and economic consequences of tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco smoke.
Tobacco consumption is the single largest preventable cause of death, killing more than seven million people globally each year, of which more than six million are users or ex-users of tobacco, and around 890,000 are non-smokers exposed to second-hand smoke.
More than 80 percent of these deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries.
While tobacco is harmful for people who consume it or are exposed to tobacco smoke, it is also harmful for the people who plant, cultivate, harvest and process it.
WHO estimates that tobacco farmers may absorb nicotine equivalent to smoking 50 cigarettes a day.
A key aspect of implementation of the FCTC is to work with tobacco farmers on crop replacement and diversification which also has long-term economic, agricultural and health benefits.
Malawi is one of the top tobacco-growing countries in southern Africa, with the country producing over 126 million kilogrammes of the golden leaf in the 2022/23 farming season alone.
Malawi earns more than 50 percent of its export revenue from tobacco sales, making the country very dependent on this cash crop.
JN/APA