The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control: opportunities and issues.

The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), a World Health Organization sponsored global tobacco control treaty, constitutes the first major international tool with the potential to significantly reduce the global pandemic of tobacco-produced disease and death. After providing background on the prevalence of cigarette smoking and smoking attributable mortality, both at present and projected for the future, the paper then describes the FCTC and discusses its development, the barriers it has confronted, and the opportunities it offers for improving global health. Successful implementation of the provisions in the treaty could avoid literally tens of millions of premature tobacco-produced deaths over the next few decades.