DOCSLIB.ORG

WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control: a Global ''Good'

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control: a Global ''Good' Special Theme – Tobacco WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control: a global ‘‘good’’ for public health Allyn L. Taylor1 & Douglas W. Bettcher2 Although the application of legal instruments to international health issues — relative to other areas of international concern — is still at a rudimentary stage of development, the transnational health impacts of globalization provide a rationale for the codification and implementation of global norms to deal with shared problems. The experience of promulgating international agreements in other areas closely related to international health — the environment, for example — demonstrates how evidence-based international agreements can effectively address a range of problems that cross national boundaries. The framework convention-protocol approach is a legally binding, incremental approach to international law-making that has frequently been employed to deal with environmental threats, and is now being adapted to serve purely public health ends. Experience with the recently initiated WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control provides a case study of how transnational public health problems can be addressed by an international legal approach. Scientific evidence in public health and economics has provided the foundation for the elaboration of this evidence-based strategy. The present tobacco epidemic poses a range of transnational challenges that are best addressed through coordinated action. In this article, it is argued that the proposed Convention has the potential to be a global ‘‘good’’ for public health — i.e. it has the potential to yield important global public health benefits — and that it represents a test case for more active involvement of the public health community in international law-making. Keywords: commerce; international cooperation; legislation, health; tobacco industry; treaties; smoking, epidemiology. Voir page 927 le re´sume´ en franc¸ais. En la pa´ gina 928 figura un resumen en espan˜ ol. Introduction opportunities for promoting health (3). Consequently, the codification and implementation of binding health The health of populations in all parts of the world is norms is becoming increasingly important as inter- increasingly being influenced by transnational eco- national health interdependence accelerates and nomic, social, scientific, technological and cultural nations recognize the need for cooperation to solve forces. Consequently, the domestic and international essential problems (4). The health impacts of spheres of health policy are becoming more and more globalization, both positive and negative, have become intertwined and inseparable (1, 2). As an example of a key policy issue leading to an expansion of how such transnational problems can be addressed conventional international law-making (5). by an international legal approach, this article International health law now encompasses presents a case study of the WHO Framework increasingly complex concerns, including aspects of Convention on Tobacco Control, which was initiated human reproduction and human cloning, human recently to combat the globalized tobacco epidemic. organ transplantation, emerging infectious diseases, The planetary context of development has international food trade, control of the safety of profound global implications for public health, and, pharmaceuticals, and control of addictive substances concomitantly, the expansion and application of such as narcotics. As a result of the new global international health law. Although the protection and impacts, international health law is recognized as promotion of public health have traditionally been inextricably linked to other areas of international legal viewed as matters of national concern, the rapid and concern, such as international environmental law and widespread influence of globalization calls for new the control of toxic pollutants, international labour frameworks of international collaboration to deal with law and occupational health and safety, arms control the emerging global threats to health and to create and the banning of weapons of mass destruction, nuclear safety and radiation protection, and fertility and population growth (6). Moreover, in the 1 Adviser, Tobacco Free Initiative, World Health Organization, development of international legal instruments — Geneva, Switzerland; and Adjunct Assistant Professor, Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA. for example, to address transboundary and global 2 Coordinator, FCTC Team, Tobacco Free Initiative, World Health environmental problems — scientific evidence has Organization, 1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland (email: bettcherd been an important component of the treaty-making @who.int). Correspondence should be addressed to this author. process. Ref. No. 00-0631 920 # World Health Organization 2000 Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 2000, 78 (7) WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Despite the evolution of international law- globalization for public health are negative. Many making in health and related areas of international transnational health threats could be turned into concern during the last few decades under the opportunities for improving our global public health auspices of numerous organizations and agencies of futures. the United Nations system, WHO has never — until For example, the globalization of modern recently — utilized its constitutional authority to information technologies carries the risk of advan- promote the development of a binding international cing the worldwide trade and consumption of convention in any field of global public health. Thus, harmful commodities, such as tobacco. At the same it was only in May 1999 that the Member States of time, however, if modern information technologies WHO adopted a resolution that accelerated the become accessible and affordable to developing process for negotiating and adopting the Organiza- countries, the potential benefits are extensive — tion’s first treaty, the WHO Framework Convention including telemedicine, interactive health networks, on Tobacco Control. communication services between health workers, Why is the development of international law and distance learning (8). As a further example, the important to public health at the present time? This globalization of advances in biomedical science raises article addresses this question in three ways. the possibility of genetics-based discrimination by the . First, it is argued that the current globalization of public and private sectors in all countries with access public health problems provides a context in to the new technology in genetics. However, which the development of global norms and advances in genetics can also lead to dramatic standards becomes increasingly necessary. progress against diseases in both rich and poor . Second, the experience of elaborating interna- countries, provided that these technologies become tional agreements in other areas closely related to available and affordable worldwide (9). international health, particularly environmental In the context of the ongoing public health matters, demonstrates how international agree- debate on globalization, this article addresses the ments can make an impact and how scientific particular relevance of the WHO Convention to the evidence has been employed to support the globalization of the tobacco epidemic. development of international law. Finally, the experience in negotiating the WHO Public benefits in a globalized world Convention provides a case study of how The growing number of public health concerns that transnational public health problems can be are bypassing or spilling over national boundaries has addressed by an international approach, and also ushered in a new era of global public health policy. how scientific evidence in both public health and Although there is a long history of multilateral economics provided a foundation for the devel- cooperation in some limited areas of public health opment of binding global agreements. policy, particularly infectious diseases (10, 11), public health has traditionally been viewed as being almost exclusively a national concern. However, with global International norms: what are integration has come a paradigm shift in which the global public health benefits? public health is now being recognized not only as a topic of global concern, but also as a global public Globalization of public health ‘‘good’’ (12, 13). Globalization — the process of increasing economic, At the national level the concept of public political and social interdependence, which takes ‘‘goods’’ has long been an integral part of economic place as capital, traded goods, persons, concepts, theory, with its roots in 18th-century scholarship. images, ideas and values diffuse across national ‘‘Public goods are essentially defined by the existence boundaries — is occurring at ever increasing rates (7). of a provision problem; by their nature they cannot The roots of globalization can be traced back to the easily be provided by the ‘‘invisible hand’’ of the industrial revolution and the laissez-faire economic market and therefore require government to over- policies of the late 19th century. However, the come the failures of the market in order to achieve globalization of the late 20th century is assuming a efficient allocation of essential resources’’ (14). magnitude — and taking on patterns — unprece- Depending upon the political structure of particular dented in world history (1). governments, ‘‘goods’’ conventionally
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Trade and Labour Mario Pianta
    University of Urbino From the SelectedWorks of Mario Pianta 2001 Trade and labour Mario Pianta Available at: https://works.bepress.com/mario_pianta/62/ Global Trade and Globalising Society Challenges for Governance and Sustainability: the Role of the EU Proceedings of a dialogue workshop held in Brussels on 14-15 December 2000 Edited by Angela Liberatore and Nikolaos Christoforides Brussels, November 2001 PREFACE Preface Fostering dialogue between researchers, policymakers and citizens The European Union is undergoing radical changes in its social, economic, political, technological, demographic, cultural and institutional structure. These changes range from the establishment of a common currency to the introduction of a European citizenship, from new family structures to new ways of working, all this while Europe is enlarging and acting in a global context. Research can play a constructive role in understanding those changes, identifying opportunities and risks, assessing the feasibility, acceptability and impacts of different policy options. Such constructive role however can only be played if research enters in sustained dialogue with those who are at the same time potential users of research, actors of change, and holders of important forms of practical knowledge. In other words, research should not only aim at ‘communicating its results’ to the people ‘outside’ the research system, but should also ‘listen to and learn from’ the experience and concerns of the various social actors or- as it is often said- the various ‘stakeholders’. The ‘dialogue workshops’ series organised within the Key Action ‘Improving the socio-economic knowledge base’ intends therefore to improve multidirectional communication –as opposed to unidirectional diffusion of information- in relation to a number of different but related issues and functions.
    [Show full text]
  • Public Goods for Economic Development
    Printed in Austria Sales No. E.08.II.B36 V.08-57150—November 2008—1,000 ISBN 978-92-1-106444-5 Public goods for economic development PUBLIC GOODS FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FOR ECONOMIC GOODS PUBLIC This publication addresses factors that promote or inhibit successful provision of the four key international public goods: fi nancial stability, international trade regime, international diffusion of technological knowledge and global environment. Each of these public goods presents global challenges and potential remedies to promote economic development. Without these goods, developing countries are unable to compete, prosper or attract capital from abroad. The undersupply of these goods may affect prospects for economic development, threatening global economic stability, peace and prosperity. The need for public goods provision is also recognized by the Millennium Development Goals, internationally agreed goals and targets for knowledge, health, governance and environmental public goods. Because of the characteristics of public goods, leaving their provision to market forces will result in their under provision with respect to socially desirable levels. Coordinated social actions are therefore necessary to mobilize collective response in line with socially desirable objectives and with areas of comparative advantage and value added. International public goods for development will grow in importance over the coming decades as globalization intensifi es. Corrective policies hinge on the goods’ properties. There is no single prescription; rather, different kinds of international public goods require different kinds of policies and institutional arrangements. The Report addresses the nature of these policies and institutions using the modern principles of collective action. UNITED NATIONS INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION Vienna International Centre, P.O.
    [Show full text]
  • Towards Different Conversations About the Internationalization of Higher Education Sharon Stein University of British Columbia, [email protected]
    Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale Volume 45 | Issue 1 Article 2 May 2016 Towards Different Conversations About the Internationalization of Higher Education Sharon Stein University of British Columbia, [email protected] Vanessa Andreotti University of British Columbia, [email protected] Judy Bruce University of Canterbury, [email protected] Rene Suša University of Oulu, [email protected] Recommended Citation Stein, Sharon; Andreotti, Vanessa; Bruce, Judy; and Suša, Rene (2016) "Towards Different Conversations About the Internationalization of Higher Education," Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale: Vol. 45: Iss. 1, Article 2. Towards different conversations about the internationalization of higher education Vers des conversations différentes au sujet de l’internationalisation de l’enseignement supérieur Sharon Stein, University of British Columbia Vanessa de Oliveira Andreotti, University of British Columbia Judy Bruce, University of Canterbury Rene Suša, University of Oulu Abstract As institutional commitments to internationalize higher education continue to grow, so does the need to critically consider both the intended purposes and actual outcomes of the programs and policies that result. In particular, there is a risk that internationalization efforts may contribute to the reproduction of harmful historical and ongoing global patterns of educational engagement. In this paper we explore these issues by offering a social cartography of four possible articulations of internationalization, and considering their relation to an often-unacknowledged global imaginary, which presumes a colonial hierarchy of humanity. We also address the practical and pedagogical possibilities and limitations of enacting each articulation within mainstream institutional settings, and propose that social cartographies offer a means of reframing and deepening engagement with the complexities, tensions, and paradoxes involved in internationalizing higher education.
    [Show full text]
  • Education Policy Research and the Global Knowledge Economy1
    ACCESS: CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN EDUCATION 2000, VOL. 19, NO. 2, 204–213 Education policy research and the global knowledge economy1 Michael Peters University of Auckland ABSTRACT In this paper, first, I sketch the importance of three discourses leading to the notion of the "knowledge economy" and I outline a common conception of the notion. Second, I discuss two recent policy constructions of the "knowledge economy" commenting at the same time on implications for education policy. Third, I mention some criticisms of these constructions and introduce Joseph Stiglitz's notion of knowledge as a global public good, and, finally, lay out some of the tasks of educational policy research in its contribution to the debate. Knowledge is and will be produced in order to be sold; it is and will be consumed in order to be valorised in a new production: in both cases, the goal is exchange. Jean-François Lyotard, The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge, 1984, p. 4. We live in a social universe in which the formation, circulation, and utilization of knowledge presents a fundamental problem. If the accumulation of capital has been an essential feature of our society, the accumulation of knowledge has not been any less so. Now, the exercise, production, and accumulation of this knowledge cannot be dissociated from the mechanisms of power; complex relations exist which must be analysed. Michel Foucault, Remarks on Marx: Conversations with Duccio Trombadori 1991, p. 165. Introduction The body of literature on the concept of the "knowledge economy" is both recent and rapidly growing, especially in the related fields of economics and management, yet both less recognised and less established in the field of education.
    [Show full text]
  • The Hyperglobalization of Trade and Its Future
    Working Paper Series WP 13-6 JULY 2013 The Hyperglobalization of Trade and Its Future Arvind Subramanian and Martin Kessler Abstract Th is paper describes seven salient features of trade integration in the 21st century: Trade integration has been more rapid than ever (hyperglobalization); it is dematerialized, with the growing importance of services trade; it is democratic, because openness has been embraced widely; it is criss-crossing because similar goods and investment fl ows now go from South to North as well as the reverse; it has witnessed the emergence of a mega-trader (China), the fi rst since Imperial Britain; it has involved the proliferation of regional and preferential trade agreements and is on the cusp of mega-region- alism as the world's largest traders pursue such agreements with each other; and it is impeded by the continued existence of high barriers to trade in services. Going forward, the trading system will have to tackle three fundamental challenges: In developed countries, the domestic support for globalization needs to be sustained in the face of economic weakness and the reduced ability to maintain social insurance mechanisms. Second, China has become the world’s largest trader and a major benefi ciary of the current rules of the game. It will be called upon to shoulder more of the responsibilities of maintaining an open system. Th e third challenge will be to prevent the rise of mega-regionalism from leading to discrimi- nation and becoming a source of trade confl icts. We suggest a way forward—including new areas of cooperation such as taxes—to maintain the open multilateral trading system and ensure that it benefi ts all countries.
    [Show full text]
  • Is China the Villain? Jobs, Wages and Building a Better U.S. Policy Toward China Sandra Polaski Is a Senior Research Scholar of the Global SANDRA POLASKI1 & KEVIN P
    Global Development Policy Center GEGI WORKING PAPER • 09/2020 GLOBAL ECONOMIC GOVERNANCE INITIATIVE Is China the Villain? Jobs, Wages and Building a Better U.S. Policy toward China Sandra Polaski is a senior research scholar of the Global SANDRA POLASKI1 & KEVIN P. GALLAGHER Economic Governance Initiative (GEGI) at Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center. She is an expert on trade, SUMMARY labor and social policy issues at The COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to a blame game between the U.S. and China, disrupting the national and global levels. urgently needed international cooperation to control the spread of the disease and accelerate efforts to find and distribute affordable vaccines and treatments. The current finger pointing has exacerbated bilateral tensions that were already flaring as a result of two intersecting forces. First, President Trump blames China (as well as Europe, Mexico, immigrants and others) for many U.S. problems that were made in the U.S., including the offshoring of jobs by U.S. firms and the botched handling of the pandemic. Second, the military-industrial complex and foreign policy hawks in the U.S. government have taken advantage of Trump's stance to hype alleged dangers from foreigners and thus justify aggressive international postures and huge military budgets. This policy brief goes beyond these immediate triggers to probe deeper structural issues that affect Kevin P. Gallagher is a the relationship between the two countries. The authors present trends in China that are well docu- Professor of Global Development mented, but seldom discussed in U.S. discourse, including rapidly rising wages and investments in Policy at the Frederick S.
    [Show full text]
  • Forced Displacement and Development
    DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE (Joint Ministerial Committee of the Boards of Governors of the Bank and the Fund on the Transfer of Real Resources to Developing Countries) DC2016-0002 March 25, 2016 FORCED DISPLACEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT Attached is a document entitled “Forced Displacement and Development” prepared by the World Bank Group for the April 16, 2016 Development Committee meeting. * * * FORCED DISPLACEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT March 21, 2016 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abbreviations and Acronyms ....................................................................................................................... 3 FORCED DISPLACEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT ............................................................................... 4 I. OVERVIEW .............................................................................................................................................. 4 II. A DEVELOPMENT APPROACH TO THE CRISIS ............................................................................ 5 III. RESPONDING TO THE FORCED DISPLACEMENT CRISIS .......................................................... 7 Helping the forcibly displaced deal with their specific vulnerabilities ......................................................... 8 Helping hosts manage the shocks in the short and medium term ................................................................. 9 Strengthening the resilience of those who stay behind ............................................................................... 11 IV. MITIGATING THE DRIVERS OF FORCED DISPLACEMENT
    [Show full text]
  • The Contribution That the Concept of Global Public Goods Can Make to the Conservation of Marine Resources Sandrine Maljean-Dubois, Carina Costa De Oliveira
    The contribution that the concept of global public goods can make to the conservation of marine resources Sandrine Maljean-Dubois, Carina Costa de Oliveira To cite this version: Sandrine Maljean-Dubois, Carina Costa de Oliveira. The contribution that the concept of global public goods can make to the conservation of marine resources. Ed Couzens, Alexander Paterson, Sophie Riley, Yanti Fristikawati,. Protecting Forest and Marine Biodiversity: The Role of Law, Edward Elgar Publishing, pp.290-314, 2017, The IUCN Academy of Environmental Law Series, 978-1-78643-948-2. halshs-01675496 HAL Id: halshs-01675496 https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-01675496 Submitted on 19 Apr 2018 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Global public goods and the conservation of marine resources 12. The contribution that the concept of global public goods can make to the conservation of marine resources Carina Costa de Oliveira and Sandrine Maljean-Dubois* 1. INTRODUCTION Vague and imprecise concepts hinder progress towards defining and implementing international obligations for the conservation of the marine environment. While concepts such as global public good, common herit- age of humankind and global commons are frequently used to discuss the governance of marine resources, particularly in areas beyond national jurisdiction, they are too often disconnected from any norms that might effectively link them to implementation and enforcement.
    [Show full text]
  • The Public/Private Divide in Higher Education: a Global Revision1
    Higher Education (2007) 53: 307–333 Ó 2007 Springer Science+Business Media B.V. DOI 10.1007/s10734-005-8230-y The public/private divide in higher education: A global revision1 SIMON MARGINSON Monash Centre for Research in International Education, Faculty of Education, Monash University, Victoria 3800, Australia (Phone: +613-99052834; Fax: 613-99059197; E-mail: [email protected]) Abstract. Our common understandings of the public/private distinction in higher education are drawn from neo-classical economics and/or statist political philosophy. However, the development of competition and markets at the national level, and the new potentials for private and public goods created by globalisation in higher educa- tion, have exposed weaknesses in the traditional notions of public/private. For example, (1) the statist notion that higher education is always/already a public good blinds us to its role in producing scarce positional private goods, even in free systems; (2) because there is no global state, both statists and neo-liberals model the global higher education environment simply as a trading environment without grasping the potential for global public goods in education – goods that are subject to non-rivalry or non-excludability, and broadly available across populations, on a global scale. Yet higher education in one nation has the potential to create positive and negative externalities in another; and all higher education systems and institutions can benefit from collective systems e.g. that facilitate cross-border recognition and mobility. The paper sets out to revise public/ private in higher education. Rather than defining public/private in terms of legal ownership, it focuses on the social character of the goods.
    [Show full text]
  • Joint Mdbs Paper on the Forced Displacement Crisis
    THE FORCED DISPLACEMENT CRISIS A JOINT PAPER BY MULTILATERAL DEVELOPMENT BANKS This report was written by a group of Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), comprised of the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), and the World Bank Group (WBG). Input was also received from staff of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). 1 Table of Content A. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 4 1. The Joint Paper ................................................................................................................................. 4 2. Forced displacement as a development challenge ............................................................................ 4 3. The role of the MDBs and the need to bridge the gap between humanitarian and development efforts ........................................................................................................................................................ 6 B. Strategic agenda .................................................................................................................................. 7 1. Mitigating the crisis: reducing fragility ...........................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Mapping of International Internet Public Policy Issues
    E/CN.16/2015/CRP.2 17 April 2015 Commission on Science and Technology for Development Eighteenth session Geneva, 4-8 May 2015 Mapping of international Internet public policy issues This document is being reproduced without formal editing. Table of Contents 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................... 2 Background ................................................................................................................................. 3 Methodology ............................................................................................................................... 4 Structure of the report ................................................................................................................. 7 2. Infrastructure and standardisation cluster .................................................. 8 2.1 Communications infrastructure ............................................................................................. 9 2.2 Technical standards ............................................................................................................. 10 2.3 Web standards ..................................................................................................................... 11 2.4 Internet protocol numbers ................................................................................................... 12 2.5 Domain name system .........................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Addressing Protracted Displacement: a Framework for Development- Humanitarian Cooperation
    Addressing Protracted Displacement: A Framework for Development- Humanitarian Cooperation A think piece drawing on collaboration between OCHA, UNDP, UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, and the World Bank, supported by the Center on International Cooperation December 2015 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The think piece was developed through ad hoc inter-agency collaboration between staff of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP), and the World Bank, supported by the Center on International Cooperation (CIC). The think piece was developed to inform inter-agency policy and practice, but it is hoped that the analysis will also be of interest to a wide range of development and humanitarian actors. We are grateful to all the inter-agency contributors for the analysis, lessons, and extensive inter-agency consultation and peer review that went into producing this think piece. Table of Contents Addressing Protracted Displacement: A Framework for Development-Humanitarian Cooperation A think piece drawing on collaboration by OCHA, UNDP, UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, and the World Bank, supported by the Center on International Cooperation Executive Summary 2 Introduction – A Growing Crisis Of Protracted Displacement and Poverty 5 The Existing Business Model Is Not Working 5 A Better Approach: Four Elements of Joint Humanitarian-Development Action 7 (I) Joint Development
    [Show full text]