Seoul, Republic of Korea –November 13, 2012 :
The Fifth Session of the Conference of the Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control ( COP 5) opened on Monday November 12 with a call on delegates to continue using science and evidence with supportive instruments to counter the tobacco industry.
Officiating at the opening of the conference, the Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr Margaret Chan said the work of the conference is very instrumental in hemming in the enemy ( tobacco industry), cutting off its options, giving it less space to manoeuvre;
‘The tobacco industry behaves like a corrosive substance that can eat through, or seep through, any crack or fissure in the armour of our defences. Our response must be to seal all these cracks and fissures, one by one, with science and evidence, supported by instruments for applying this knowledge and backed by the rule of law.’
She hailed the spirit of the Conference of Parties which she said is a model of multi sectoral collaboration and interagency response adding that to date, the conference has created useful supplementary instruments to more than ten articles of the WHO FCTC;
‘You have done so in a spirit of solidarity, fully mindful of the transnational nature of the tobacco threat, and fully aware of the need to build implementation capacity among Parties with meagre resources. Success depends on a capacity to implement, everywhere. ’