The 13th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health

It is only in the last few years that the idea of health as a human right has been developed and is now consciously being applied in a variety of situations. Nowhere is this more important than in the fields of women's health and tobacco control. Women's equality and women's rights have always been the cornerstone of the women's health movement and tobacco control is the subject of the world's first global public health treaty. The practical application of health as a human right will be of major significance to women and tobacco control nationally and internationally in the 21st century.

The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which entered into force on the 28th February 2005, together with other mutually reinforcing international treaties like the CEDAW, have put on a firm legal footing the idea that tobacco control cannot consist merely of treatment for tobacco-related disease and infirmity but must also include all other aspects of tobacco control that can contribute to the achievement of a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being. Tobacco control is therefore not only a matter of public health, but also a matter of fundamental human rights.

Women and women's groups, at all levels and in all spheres in society, should know their health rights in relation to tobacco so that they can use them effectively.