Hanoi (VNA) – The Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA) has released its Tobacco Industry Interference Index on ASEAN’s implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) Article 5.3.
The index, the fourth in the series, is a report that tracks government action in protecting their health policies from interference of the tobacco industry.
According to the report, Brunei was ranked first for its good record, followed by the Philippines, but both countries had not advanced in strengthening their implementation of Article 5.3.
Vietnam had made marginal improvement but still showed a high level of industry interference. Malaysia and Myanmar showed greater industry interference.
The WHO FCTC was adopted by the World Health Assembly on May 21, 2003 and entered into force two years later. Its Articles 3-5 establish the objective, guiding principles and general obligations engendered by the treaty.
WHO estimated smoking causes seven million deaths per year.-VNA
VNA