Developing Government Policy Capability

Appendix 3

The WHO and the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control: Historical Background

The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) was a significant undertaking for a number of reasons. First, the WHO had never used its constitutional authority to apply international treaty law to a public health goal, despite calls for such an approach from as early as 1979 (Mamudu & Glantz, 2009; World Health Organization, 1979, 2009). Taylor (2002) notes that the “traditional conservatism” of the WHO to use international legislative strategies can be attributed to its “cultural predispositions—its organizational culture” (p. 979). The suggestion to apply international treaty law to tobacco control as a public health issue was an innovative ...