Ten years of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control: progress in the Americas

• Main Authors: Adriana Blanco (Author), Rosa Carolina Sandoval (Author), Leticia Martínez-López (Author), Roberta de Betânia Caixeta (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, 2017-03-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 0036-3634; 1606-7916; 10.21149/8682
• Keywords: tabaquismo; prevención y control; América; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270
• Source: Salud Pública de México, Vol 59, Iss Supl.1 (2017)

The objective of this article is to analyze the progress made in the Americas in the implementation of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) after its tenth anniversary of entry into force. At the time of the analysis, 30 of the 35 countries of the Americas are Parties to the FCTC. While progress has been made in implementing the measures contained in the FCTC, the level of implementation has not been homogeneous either across mandates or across countries. Forty percent of Parties to the Convention in the Americas are yet to implement any of the measures at their highest level of implementation according to the WHO classification. It is crucial that the countries of the Americas continue to progress towards the full imple­mentation of the FCTC progressively. In these efforts, it is important to take into account that FCTC measures such as those related to smoke-free environments and adoption of effective health warnings are basic public health measures, which are almost entirely within the competence of health authorities and therefore susceptible to be implemented in a prompt fashion in all countries of the region.