African governments have affirmed their support for the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control at a high-level meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, held on 13-14 March. The Consultative Meeting of the African Region on the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) was attended by 21 countries.

The FCTC, currently under negotiation by WHO’s 191 Member States, is an international public health treaty that aims to reduce the global use of tobacco and thereby reduce tobacco-related deaths in the next century. Tobacco currently kills 4 million people per year. If unchecked, this silent epidemic could kill 10 million by 2030, over seventy percent of them in the developing world.

The African countries met to discuss the Chair’s text of a FCTC, prepared by the Chair of the intergovernmental negotiating body, Ambassador Celco Amorim of Brazil, and to prepare their positions for the upcoming intergovernmental negotiations scheduled for 28 April to 5 May in Geneva, Switzerland. The following is the resolution adopted at the Consultative Meeting of the African Region on the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which was hosted and organized by the government of South Africa:

Johannesburg Declaration on the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

Having considered the Chair's text of a Framework Convention on Tobacco Control,

Reaffirming the tobacco control commitment embedded in the Lome and Nairobi Declarations on tobacco control and programming in the African region,

Noting that African countries are currently struggling with problems linked to poverty and its related communicable diseases, and will shortly have to contend with an epidemic of noncommunicable diseases,

Alarmed by the relentless increase of tobacco-related diseases and deaths both globally, and specifically in Africa,

Concerned about the targeting of women, young people and children by tobacco advertising and promotion campaigns in developing countries,

Concerned about the tobacco industry's efforts to undermine tobacco control policies in Africa,

Conscious of the importance of civil society's active participation in the negotiation and eventual implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control,

Recognizing the immediate and long-term technical, financial and human-resource needs of the countries in the African region,

Conscious of the impact of tobacco consumption as a direct and indirect cause of poverty both for individuals, families and populations,

Appreciating the financial requirements of those countries most dependent on tobacco for their livelihood,

Recognizing the gradual and long-term need for transition to other economically viable farming options and alternative livelihoods,

The countries of the African region hereby,

Reaffirm the need for permanent follow-up of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control process both at national and international levels, with an emphasis on the full participation of civil society whose goals are consistent with public health objectives,

Call on the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body on the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control to ensure that the final negotiated text of the Convention prioritizes public health and also pays special attention to the unique social and economic realities of the African continent;

Urge the Member States of WHO to put in place a global mechanism to monitor and disseminate information about tobacco industry activities aimed at diluting the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in order to counteract such activities,

Urge the international community including multilateral organizations, development agencies and foundations to provide financial and other resources essential for the enactment and implementation of robust tobacco control policies, diversification into other economically viable farming options and alternative livelihoods in Africa,

Call on the global community to devote particular attention to the needs of African countries that are facing the double burden of communicable and noncommunicable diseases.

Adopted at Johannesburg, South Africa

Wednesday 14 March 2001

Participating Member States in the African Region Meeting on the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control:

Algeria, Botswana, Burundi, Cote d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania,, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe

For more information on the meeting please contact the WHO Regional Adviser for the Tobacco Free Initiative, Mr L. Sanwogou at: telephone number 263 4 70 35 80, extension 9384; fax 1 32 17 33 9002; email: sanwogoul@whoafr.org