8 April 2025, Bangkok – On World Health Day, more than 50 public health and tobacco control organizations worldwide called for the cancellation of the Philippines’ nomination to preside over next month’s 78th World Health Assembly (WHA).
In a petition addressed to Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), and all WHO Member States, the health groups complained that recent interactions of the Philippine government with the tobacco industry cast serious doubts on the nation’s ability to uphold the integrity and principles of the WHO and the WHA, citing the Philippine government’s acceptance and endorsement of donations by Philip Morris International (PMI) and its local affiliate.
On 20 March 2025, Health Secretary Dr. Teodoro Herbosa had joined First Lady Liza Marcos and Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian in a formal ceremony in Malacañang Palace as PMI executives turned over four mobile clinics to the government. This was not an isolated incident – months earlier, the same officials accepted a similar donation of a mobile clinic from the same tobacco company.
These actions violate the country’s obligations under Article 5.3 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and the country’s own Civil Service Commission – Department of Health Joint Memorandum Circular (CSC-DOH JMC) 2010-01 that establishes strict guidelines to protect the bureaucracy against tobacco industry interference.
The WHO FCTC guidelines for the implementation of Article 5.3 highlight an irreconcilable conflict between tobacco industry interests and public health. The WHO has consistently warned of the deceptive nature of tobacco industry corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, noting that such donations are a strategy to create goodwill and gain access to policymakers while masking the industry’s fundamental conflict with public health. Additionally, in WHA Resolution 54.18, WHO Member States were urged “to be alert to any efforts by the tobacco industry to undermine or subvert tobacco control efforts, and to be vigilant in efforts to counteract industry influence.”
“Nominating and electing a Health Secretary from a country that has repeatedly breached clearly defined ethical standards to preside over the WHA risks not only damaging the reputation of WHO and the WHA but also diluting rather than strengthening global policies for the promotion of public health and its protection from commercial determinants of health,” the advocates stated in their joint letter.
Every year more than 8 million people die from tobacco-caused diseases globally. In 2024, PMI sold more cigarettes (616.8 billion sticks) globally than it did in 2023 (612.9 billion sticks) despite its rhetoric that cigarettes belong in museums. It relaunched its Marlboro cigarettes in the Philippines in 2024, where at least 90,000 Filipinos are killed by tobacco every year.
The WHA, the WHO’s preeminent decision-making body, plays a critical role in shaping global health agendas and policies. Public health advocates emphasized that the WHA presidency demands unwavering commitment to public health principles and complete independence from industries that profit from unhealthy products.
“Given these circumstances, we urge the WHO and its Member States to rescind the nomination of the Philippines for the WHA presidency. We must ensure that the leadership of the WHA embodies the highest standards of integrity and aligns with WHO’s mission to promote health, keep the world safe, and serve the vulnerable, aiming for a world where all people attain the highest possible level of health.”
Click here to download the the petition
Contact Information:
Ms Val Bugnot, Media and Communications Manager, SEATCA
Email: val@seatca.org
Mobile: +63 917 312 4600
About SEATCA
SEATCA is a multi-sectoral non-governmental alliance promoting health and saving lives by assisting ASEAN countries to accelerate and effectively implement the tobacco control measures contained in the WHO FCTC. Acknowledged by governments, academic institutions, and civil society for its advancement of tobacco control in Southeast Asia, the WHO bestowed on SEATCA the World No Tobacco Day Award in 2004 and the WHO Director-General’s Special Recognition Award in 2014. SEATCA is an accredited ASEAN entity and an official Observer to the WHO FCTC Conference of Parties.