ENDS and means up for debate at WHO’s COP8 gathering

The role of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco will again be discussed next week at the eighth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP8) to the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC).

The meeting agenda confirms that the 181 parties to the FCTC intend to forge ahead with their goal of “bringing the fight against tobacco to the next level”. And that includes taking aim at electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) and heat-not-burn (HnB) products – notably, how governments should regulate them and how to tackle advertising and the depiction of tobacco online, especially in social media.

The stage for COP8, which runs from 1st to 6th October in Geneva, Switzerland, will be set by a keynote address from Vera da Costa e Silva, the head of the convention secretariat. She will “outline the work and challenges ahead” as governments seek to shape a “global strategy to accelerate tobacco control” over the next five years.