HT Bureau
GUWAHATI, May 7: As India prepares to participate in the upcoming 11th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP11) to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), concerns are being raised over the growing influence of foreign-funded organisations in shaping the country’s health policies, particularly in the area of tobacco regulation.
According to an official statement, critics argue that global frameworks like the FCTC are increasingly being driven by powerful international non-governmental organisations (NGOs), often backed by private philanthropic funding, rather than by scientific evidence or the specific needs of individual nations. In India’s case, this has sparked a debate about whether international influence may be overshadowing local priorities in public health policy.
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India, which bears one of the world’s heaviest tobacco burdens — with over 300 million users and more than 1.35 million tobacco-related deaths annually — has consistently emphasized its right to adapt global frameworks to local contexts.
However, many observers feel that current regulations do not adequately reflect the country’s unique socio-economic realities or consumption patterns.
Jeffrey Smith, Resident Senior Fellow at Integrated Harm Reduction, was quoted in the statement saying, “The only known fact is that the existing tobacco policies fall far short of meeting the goal of cessation. Without novel policies that provide options for those who use tobacco products to switch, it is unlikely that India will reduce the health consequences of tobacco use at the population level.”
Critics of the FCTC process point to what they describe as a one-size-fits-all, prohibitionist approach, including restrictions on emerging harm-reduction alternatives like vaping or heated tobacco products.
These, they argue, are being sidelined while more harmful products such as bidis and smokeless tobacco remain insufficiently addressed.
Globally, countries like Sweden, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the UAE are exploring more flexible and locally-informed tobacco control models that focus on harm reduction, consumer education, and stronger enforcement mechanisms.
India’s participation in COP11 is likely to rekindle the debate over how much autonomy national governments retain in public health policymaking, especially when dealing with complex challenges like tobacco use.
