Next week, global health officials and government delegates will gather in Geneva for the 11th Conference of the Parties (COP11) to the World Health Organization\u2019s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). The goal of this meeting should be simple: to reduce smoking and save lives. Instead, it has become a stage for secrecy, ideology, and exclusion, where science is ignored, and the very people most affected by tobacco policy are denied a voice.<\/p>\n
The WHO\u2019s FCTC was created with noble intentions: to reduce smoking and protect public health, even acknowledging harm reduction strategies. Once a landmark in global health, it risks turning into a museum piece, an institution that cannot adapt to scientific progress and reality. Instead of listening to the millions of smokers who have successfully quit thanks to vaping and other smoke-free alternatives, the COP11 agenda is focused on banning, restricting, and silencing the very tools and people that could help end smoking for good.<\/p>\n
Secrecy and consumers left outside the room<\/p>\n
At COP11, discussions about vaping, nicotine pouches, and heated tobacco will take place behind closed doors, with no journalists, no independent scientists, and no consumer representatives allowed in the room. Decisions that will affect 1.1 billion smokers worldwide will be made in secrecy. It\u2019s hard to believe that an organization meant to protect public health refuses to even hear from those whose health is at stake.<\/p>\n
That is why the World Vapers\u2019 Alliance (WVA) decided to make consumers visible where they are usually ignored. Ahead of COP11, the WVA projected the message \u201cVoices Unheard \u2014 Consumers Matter\u201d across the facade of the conference venue in Geneva. The point was clear: you cannot claim to protect the public while excluding the public from the conversation.<\/p>\n
Moreover, while the WHO promotes bans and restrictions, real-world evidence tells a different story. Countries that have embraced harm reduction, such as the United Kingdom, Sweden, and New Zealand, have seen smoking rates plummet. The UK now reports record-low smoking levels, largely thanks to vaping. Sweden is on the verge of becoming the world\u2019s first smoke-free country through nicotine pouches and other nicotine alternatives. New Zealand has cut smoking by half in just five years by integrating vaping into its cessation strategies.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, countries that follow the WHO\u2019s prohibitionist approach are seeing the opposite: a growing black market, no safety controls, and products easily accessible to minors. In Latin America, where vaping remains banned or unregulated, millions of consumers still use these products, only now they are forced to do so without standards, oversight, or accurate information. Prohibition does not protect people; it endangers them.<\/p>\n
A chance for Caribbean leadership<\/p>\n
For the Caribbean region, the stakes could not be higher. Smoking continues to claim thousands of lives each year, placing enormous pressure on healthcare systems. Instead of outlawing innovation, Caribbean governments could become global leaders by adopting evidence-based policies that prioritize harm reduction over moral panic. A regulated market, one that ensures product safety, prevents sales to minors, and informs smokers about less harmful alternatives, is not only more effective but also more humane.<\/p>\n
The Caribbean has the opportunity to lead, not follow. By promoting science-based regulation instead of blind prohibition and engaging consumers, it can show the world what a balanced approach looks like. Countries must push back against the prohibitionist WHO approach at COP11.<\/p>\n