The Fourth Pillar of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control: Harm Reduction and the International Human Right to Health

Abstract

By applying the right to health to tobacco control, this article advocates for research in and evaluation of these purportedly less hazardous tobacco products through the FCTC framework. Only by acknowledging these tobacco harm-reduction products and appraising them as part of national comprehensive tobacco control strategies can governments realize their obligations under the right to health. Casting success as the reduction in exposure to toxins, these less hazardous nicotine-delivery products, while not offering the preferred health and economic benefits of abstaining from tobacco entirely, might nevertheless become a viable component of a nation’s comprehensive tobacco policy.