Geneva, November 4, 2016 – A worrying culture of censorship is emerging behind the scenes of the seventh session of the Conference of the Parties (COP7) to the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), taking place in Greater Noida, India from November 7 to 12.
Those journalists and members of the public who were thrown out of the public gallery at COP6 (Moscow) in 2014 will not be fooled by the FCTC Secretariat’s new, supposedly transparent accreditation process for COP7. Proposals to be discussed at the summit, which if adopted will formalize censorship practices in WHO meetings, contain plans for the compulsory screening of media attendees and any individual or organization who directly or indirectly consults with the tobacco industry, including government representatives and experts with legitimate credentials . [...]