The 13th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health

The Millenum Development Goals (MDGs) and Tobacco Control from a Development Perspective

Tobacco control is most often framed as a health issue and thereby often dealt with from this narrow perspective in designing, implementing and funding tobacco control policies and programs at the country level. However, it is known that tobacco control to be effective requires a multi-sectoral approach. The WHO and UN Task-Force initiative to relate tobacco control with the MDGs is an opportunity to frame tobacco control as a sustainable development issue at the policy level. Moreover, the linkage between the MDGs and tobacco control is an important tool to bring together social actors from different areas to become engaged in tobacco control.

In spite of the great success of the WHO-FCTC in leveraging tobacco control measures all over the globe, the potential of the MDGs is still unexplored by governments and civil society organizations alike in practical terms. Additionally, the MDGs and development are arguments increasingly used by the tobacco industry to buy legitimacy for its existence, and consequently undermining the MDG's potential for strengthening partnerships that can de facto broaden the awareness of the need for tobacco control to go beyond health.

This presentation will discuss how tobacco control fits into the broad MDGs context. It will also explore the opportunities and the challenges involved in the mechanisms used to promote the MDGs in Brazil as well as the ambiguities and dilemmas faced by governments and civil society organizations in their relationship with the tobacco industry.