Dr Rachel Barry will be delivering training today (12 August 2025) on the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) to Amnesty International’s Business and Human Rights team.
Dr Barry’s training session will focus on how lessons from decades of efforts to control the harms caused by the transnational tobacco industry can be used to mitigate commercially-driven harms caused by other industries, such as fossil fuels. In addition, Dr Barry will speak about the conditions that enabled the development and adoption of the WHO FCTC, and outline any challenges and opportunities related to the implementation of some of its key articles.
The WHO FCTC was developed to protect public health from the international tobacco epidemic in a cooperative and global manner. It was the first-ever public health treaty and celebrated the 20-year anniversary of its entry into force earlier this year.
Dr Barry is an expert on the regulation and political influence of diverse health-harming industries, and a Research Fellow at the Centre for 21st Century Public Health (C21PH). Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation focused on human rights. It’s Business and Human Rights team holds companies to account through research, campaigns, litigation, and advocacy.
Building on recent work published in Future Healthcare Journal, the training session will also involve a discussion around whether a similarly favourable environment could arise in the context of fossil fuels. Dr Barry will consider some of the challenges posed by the current political situation, where funding and commitment to global standard setting is eroding fast, particularly among some of the most powerful states.
Commenting ahead of her session, Dr Barry says:
The WHO FCTC is often portrayed as a template for advancing effective global health governance in other policy areas, including fossil fuels, alcohol, and ultra-processed foods. However, it is also important to understand the evolving policies, norms and practices that took place over several decades, enabling its development. I look forward to exploring these issues and potential ways forward further with the Amnesty International team.
The C21PH aspires to be a globally recognised, vibrant, trusted, and distinguished leader in innovative public health research that drives meaningful change at local, national, and international levels to improve human and planetary health.