Addis Ababa, 27 January -- Ethiopian House of Peoples’ Representatives ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) on 21 January 2014. The main objective of the Convention is to decrease the demand and supply of tobacco and tobacco products. It is the first international treaty negotiated in response to the globalization of the tobacco epidemic. The Convention represents a milestone for the promotion of public health and provides new legal dimensions for international health cooperation.  

Sixty-three per cent of all deaths worldwide are caused by non-communicable diseases (NCDs), for which tobacco use is one of the greatest risk factors. Since tobacco is the largest single preventable risk factor for almost all non-communicable diseases, ratification of FCTC will help Ethiopia tackle the growing burden of NCDs in the country. It will also speed up the implementation of legislations to enforce and protect the public from exposure tobacco, as well as to reduce demand and supply of tobacco products. 

The World Health Assembly adopted the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control on 21 May 2003 and it entered into force on 27 February 2005. It has since become one of the most rapidly and widely embraced treaties in United Nations history. As of January 2013, 42 out of 46 countries in the African region
have ratified the FCTC; only Eritrea, Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe are yet to ratify the Convention. 

WHO will continue its commitment to strengthen tobacco control in Ethiopia and urge all health development partners to intensify their support for the speedy implementation of the WHO FCTC and the placement of legislations to ensure that the public is protected from exposure to tobacco. “It is high time to bring stakeholders and partners together for coordinated action plan towards realizing their shared goal of tobacco control,” said Dr Abebayehu Assefa, Team Leader for Non-Communicable Diseases at WHO Ethiopia.  

The ratification of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control was a result of tireless advocacy work of all health partners and civil society organizations in Ethiopia under the leadership of the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) with support from the World Health Organization to face the non-communicable diseases
epidemic in the country.  

More information on the WHO FCTC: More;

For more information, please contact: 

Wassihun Melaku, Health Promotion Officer, belayw [at] who.int, 
Tel +251 919 795 722;

Viivi Erkkilä, Communications Officer, erkkilav [at] et.afro.who.int,
Tel: +251 936 811 947.