We have discussed the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control's (FCTC) Conferences of the Parties on this blog many times. Typically, they are cursed events - by Ebola in Moscow in 2014, by air pollution in Delhi in 2016 and by Covid in the Netherlands in 2020. The Netherlands meeting was cancelled and rearranged for this year, but the decision has now been made to hold it online only.
This would be a good opportunity to broadcast it to the world, but I expect the usual extreme secrecy at this taxpayer-funded World Health Organisation (WHO) event.
That would be a shame because the conference has never been more important to vapers. In the last eighteen months, the WHO has gone completely off the rails on this issue. At the start of the pandemic, it tweeted a series of bizarre lies and half-truths about vaping. Last month, it gave India a special award for banning the sale of e-cigarettes nationwide.
I've now written a brief history of the COP meetings for the Property Rights Alliance: The Impact of COP9 on Vapers.
It concludes...
Governments differ on how they view tobacco harm reduction, but those which recognise its potential to lower smoking rates and save lives should make that case strongly at COP9. They should pick strong, articulate advocates as their delegates, not bureaucrats. If the WHO continues to spread misinformation about e-cigarettes and if COP9 is held in secret, they should with-draw their funding of the FCTC Secretariat. The FCTC Secretariat should be put on notice. COP9 is its last chance to mend its ways and operate as a transparent and evidence-based organisation. If it cannot be reformed, it should be disbanded.
You can download the report for free here.
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