Global conference on tobacco control opens in Panama

The WHO estimates that 8 million people die each year worldwide due to tobacco use.

 

Delegates from around the world gathered in Panama for the tenth Conference of the Parties (COP10) to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

Even though, over the past 20 years, the prevalence of smoking among adults has fallen from almost 33% to 22%, according to the World Health Organization, Dr. Adriana Blanco Marquizo, head of the Convention Secretariat- framework of the WHO, warned of the dangers that this industry represents for the environment.

Blanco said land used for tobacco cultivation cannot be easily converted because tobacco "is very demanding in terms of soil nutrients" and "also requires intensive use of pesticides."

“It’s really very polluting.”

Despite the decline in tobacco use among adults, Blanco said he is concerned about the increasing availability of new and emerging nicotine and tobacco products to youth.

“Most smokers started smoking as teenagers,” Blanco said, noting that the industry uses social media to promote their products, which are also “young people's favorite media.”

This is the first in-person Conference of the Parties since 2018, with previous meetings held remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The World Health Organization estimates that 8 million people die each year from tobacco use worldwide.

Although the FCTC has been signed by many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, Argentina, Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Republic have not yet ratified it.

Urgent clarification from the Egyptian government regarding the “Ras El Hekma” project

Egyptian Council of Ministers spokesman, Counselor Mohamed Al-Homsani, confirmed that the Council of Ministers is the authority concerned with issuing all data regarding the project, because there is information circulating that is all inaccurate, without exception.

Counselor Muhammad Al-Homsani said, during a phone call, “The government issued a statement last Thursday, and the Prime Minister confirmed during the statement that there is a legal and technical committee formed in the Council of Ministers to study investment offers in important projects.”

He added: “The committee is a technical and legal committee subject to the direct supervision of the Council of Ministers, and it studies important offers that are scheduled to generate huge foreign exchange resources. This comes within the framework of the government’s endeavor to provide foreign exchange resources by receiving foreign direct investments.”

Al-Homsani pointed out that “there are negotiations taking place with investors, and all the details will be announced soon,” explaining: “Announcing all the details regarding any project must take place at the appropriate time.”

He stressed, saying: “The Council of Ministers is the body concerned with issuing all statements in this regard because there are data and information circulating that are all inaccurate, without exception, and everything that is circulated on social media is incorrect.”