EFA co-signed with others 29 NGOs an open letter to the President and Government of the Republic of Croatia and of Serbia expressing deep concerns regarding the close relations between tobacco industry and the governments, which could lead a subversion of tobacco control and public health policies in the countries.
Article 5.3 the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) has the scope to safeguarding public health policymaking from tobacco industry interference and recognises the fundamental conflict between the tobacco industry's interests and public health policy-making. According to WHO FCTC unnecessary interactions of government officials with the tobacco industry would constitute a serious breach of the WHO Convention.
EFA and the co-signer NGOs called the Prime Minister of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, and the Prime Minister of Croatia, Tihomir Oreskovic, to take decisive action to ensure proper implementation of Article 5.3 of the FCTC in their countries and South-Eastern Europe Region, and fulfil UN obligations.
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