Attendance at the FCTC Conference of the Parties (COP) in Moscow

In October 2014 four members of the Project (Evan Blecher, Nicole Vellios, Grieve Chelwa and Corne van Walbeek) attended the sixth COP in Moscow. We attended the COP under the banner of the Framework Convention Alliance. While this was Evan’s third COP, it was the first COP for the other three members. It was primarily a study tour of the practical implementation of tobacco control policy. Amongst others, the COP adopted the Guidelines to Article 6(on the use of tax and price policy in reducing tobacco use). Evan was substantially involved in the drafting of theseGuidelines. The Guidelines can now be used by civil society and the public health community to put pressure on their governments to increase the excise tax on tobacco products.

The COP was also a good opportunity to build and expand personal and professional networks. For example, Corne met a person from Jamaica who had read his 2005 report on the excise tax system in Jamaica and why the government should increase the excise tax. After her return back to Jamaica, and after consultation with her Ministry of Health, she invited Corne to do a follow-up study. In January 2015 he went to Jamaica and did exactly that. The report of about 50 pages has been submitted to the Minister of Health and is being used to argue that a large increase in the excise tax on cigarettes in Jamaica is long overdue.

Photos courtesy of the Framework Convention Alliance (FCA). Visit the FCA COP6 page for more details of the meeting.