BACKGROUND: The implementation of the FCTC represents Target 3.a of the SDGs and has been recognized as an SDG accelerator. To this end, the FCTC Global Accelerator for Tobacco Control was approved at the 8th Conference of the Parties in 2018 to help advance the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and was followed by the related launch of the FCTC Global Strategy 2025. The overall target of the strategy was to achieve a 30% reduction in global tobacco use prevalence between 2010 and 2025. This study reviewed the role of the WHO Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC) with the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and reports related challenges and opportunities.
METHODS: The FCTC Global Strategy 2025 indicator data was obtained from the WHO FCTC Secretariat and compiled on the Global Tobacco Control Progress Hub for review and analysis. Related decisions and reports from FCTC Conferences of the Parties (COPs), WHO and UN were also collected and reviewed.
RESULTS: The 2023 UN SDG Mid-Point Review downgraded numerous SDG targets, including Target 3.a. Reasons cited for these downgrades include global challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, political conflict, and climate change. In February 2024, delegates attending FCTC COP10 formally delayed the initial 2025 timeline of the FCTC Global Strategy to 2030.
CONCLUSIONS: The delay in achieving Target 3.a may result in increased morbidity and mortality from tobacco use and impairs the ability of FCTC implementation to accelerate the SDGs. Enhanced efforts to improve FCTC implementation are justified to ensure that the revised 2025 target will be met without further delay, including reinforcing key elements of the FCTC Global Strategy. We will review these elements with WCTC delegates.