Advocates are calling on the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) to stop blocking access to safer nicotine products (SNPs) at its 11th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP11) in Geneva, Switzerland, on Nov. 17 to 22, 2025.
The Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction (GSTHR), in a new briefing paper, argues that expanding consumer access to these products is essential to unlocking the public health benefits of tobacco harm reduction (THR).
The paper, produced by harm reduction-focused public health organization Knowledge Action Change (KAC), says the FCTC has been ineffective in curbing tobacco-related mortality and morbidity.
It notes that tobacco use continues to cause approximately 8 million deaths annually worldwide. The FCTC’s voluntary goal of a 30 percent reduction in tobacco use by 2025 has not been met, with WHO data showing global tobacco use stagnating at 1.25 billion in 2022, nearly 20 years after the treaty’s adoption.
The briefing paper points out that SNPs like vapes, snus, nicotine pouches and heated tobacco products pose significantly lower health risks than combustible cigarettes and have already supported millions in smoking cessation.
Countries that have supported access to SNPs are seeing notable reductions in smoking rates. In the UK, smoking rates fell from 24 percent in 2005 to 10.8 percent in 2025, while vaping prevalence reached 10 percent. Similarly, New Zealand saw smoking prevalence drop from 28.9 percent in 2000 to 10.9 percent in 2021, with vaping projected to reach 13 percent by 2025.
The GSTHR paper criticizes the WHO for appearing firmly opposed to THR, instead urging member states to ban or impose strict regulations and high taxes on SNPs. It notes the provisional COP11 agenda characterizes harm reduction not as a legitimate public health approach but as a narrative aligned with tobacco industry interests.
The paper also raises concerns about the transparency and funding mechanisms of the FCTC. COP meetings are predominantly closed to the public with restricted NGO participation and no representation for SNP users. It also examines the FCTC Secretariat’s growing dependence on extrabudgetary contributions, which accounted for 55 percent of its $19.5 million budget for 2024-2025. This dependency is projected to rise to 56 percent of the proposed $20.1 million budget for 2026-2027.
The GSTHR report expresses concern that this dependency on extrabudgetary funding may grant disproportionate influence to major donors.
This includes philanthropist Michael Bloomberg, WHO’s Global Ambassador for Noncommunicable Diseases and Injuries, who has allocated $1.6 billion to global tobacco control initiatives since 2005. This funding has supported organizations like the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (CTFK) which advocate for restrictions or bans on SNPs. The paper argues that this donor influence is hindering an impartial evaluation of tobacco harm reduction’s potential to lower global smoking rates.
The paper notes that tobacco use in low and middle income countries (LMICs), home to 80 percent of the world’s smokers, is declining only gradually. In their 2022 Lancet article, University of Auckland emeritus professors Robert Beaglehole and Ruth Bonita, both global experts on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and former WHO employees, argued the “FCTC is no longer fit for purpose, especially for low-income countries.”
The report says the only realistic vehicle for FCTC reform is through the Parties to the Convention. It urges countries that have supported SNP access to protect their progress and take responsibility for ensuring that the capacity of tobacco harm reduction is given due consideration at COP11 and beyond.
, are urging the WHO FCTC at COP11 to end its opposition to safer nicotine products (SNPs) and embrace tobacco harm reduction (THR) to cut global smoking rates and deaths.){kind=link}