LISTESYLE | WHO slammed for missing 20 years of good opportunity in harm reduction
Experts said that the World Health Organiztion should no longer miss the opportunity to help smokers reduce the harm from cigarettes.
Exhibit goers checking out heated tobacco products and other non-combustible alternatives at PMI's Technovation in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Source: TechSabado.com file photo
Health experts denounced the World Health Organization (WHO) for missing two decades of good opportunities to address the smoking problem through harm reduction.
Martin Cullip, international fellow at the Taxpayers Protection Alliance’s (TPA) Consumer Center, said the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) was a “good idea that has gone terribly wrong.”
“We’ve lost 20 years of potential progress because of rigid ideology,” Cullip said at a panel discussion organized by the TPA.
The WHO marked the 20th anniversary of the FCTC in February 2025. The global health treaty, signed by 183 countries, heavily promotes its MPOWER strategy, which emphasizes measures like taxation, advertising bans, and smoking restrictions.
TPA panelists described the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control’s two decades of tobacco control efforts as stagnant, characterized by missed opportunities and a risky opposition to innovation.
Roger Bate, a global health policy expert at the International Center for Law and Economics, said, “Whether it’s COVID-19 or tobacco policy, the WHO has failed repeatedly.”
David Williams, president of the TPA, also criticized the WHO FCTC for “squandering good opportunities in tobacco harm reduction.”
“I have seen tobacco harm reduction products develop over the last 10 to 15 years. And I’m absolutely jealous because I wish my father back in the ’70s and ’80s had access to these products—whether it’s vaping, heated tobacco, nicotine pouches, or anything to get him to switch from combustible cigarettes. That’s why I’m involved in this on a personal level. I think there is a missed opportunity,” Williams said.
In a statement reacting to the TPA panel discussion, Dr. Lorenzo Mata Jr., president of the Philippine advocacy group Quit for Good, said the FCTC’s “prohibitionist policy” has marginalized millions of smokers without effectively helping them quit.
“The WHO FCTC should focus on helping smokers instead of demonizing them,” Mata said.
“There are still more than a billion smokers in the world today, and a prohibitionist policy will not make them go away. Smokers who refuse to quit need support, and the best tools include smoke-free products such as vapes, heated tobacco, and nicotine pouches,” he said.
Last year, Dr. Nuntavarn Vichit-Vadakan, the Committee A chair for the WHO global treaty on tobacco control and founding dean of the School of Global Studies within the Faculty of Public Health at Thammasat University in Thailand, lauded the Philippine delegation for its collaborative approach and successful defense of national interests at the FCTC Conference of the Parties 10 in Panama City.
Vichit-Vadakan praised the delegation’s cooperation in reaching a consensus, emphasizing its ability to balance national interests with the requests of other parties.
Williams said the WHO should no longer miss the opportunity to help smokers reduce the harm from cigarettes.
“There are fathers and mothers and brothers and daughters out there who are smoking, who shouldn’t be smoking anymore. And we want them to have accurate information. We want to give them the opportunity to switch to less harmful products. It’s going to save lives. It’s going to save money. And there’s just no reason why in 2025, we aren’t embracing this innovation in this market,” Williams said.
Williams added that even the United Nations talks about harm reduction when it comes to the environment. “When they talk about electric vehicles and other things, why not harm reduction when it comes to smoking? We have to embrace new technologies, and we can’t be selective just because we don’t happen to like an industry or some players in the industry,” he said.
“We need fundamental reform. If the organization cannot evolve to incorporate modern science and real-world solutions, then it risks becoming obsolete,” he said.
Bate said the WHO is now at least 60 percent funded by “powerful vested interests,” including some in the pharmaceutical sector and billionaires with “very strong and strict agendas.”
“The WHO needs to reform. It needs its leadership to be slashed. It needs far less control at the top in Geneva and more control at its field offices. But overwhelmingly, it needs to be overhauled,” Bate said.
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