A chilling example? Uruguay, Phillip Morris International, and WHO's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

Russell, A.J.; Wainwright, M.; Mamudu, H.M.

Abstract

The World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) is the first international public health treaty to address the global spread of tobacco products. Ethnographic research at the fourth meeting of the FCTC's Conference of the Parties in Uruguay highlights the role of the FCTC in recalibrating the relationship between international trade and investment agreements and those of global public health. Specifically, we chart the origins and development of the Punta del Este Declaration, tabled by Uruguay at the conference, to counter a legal request by Philip Morris International, the world's largest tobacco transnational, for arbitration by the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes over Uruguay's alleged violations of several international trade and investment treaties. We argue that medical anthropologists should give greater consideration to global health governance and diplomacy as a potential counterweight to the ‘politics of resignation’ associated with corporate capitalism.

Citation

Russell, A., Wainwright, M., & Mamudu, H. (2015). A chilling example? Uruguay, Phillip Morris International, and WHO's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 29(2), 256-277. https://doi.org/10.1111/maq.12141

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 3, 2014
• Online Publication Date: Oct 20, 2014
• Publication Date: Jun 1, 2015
• Deposit Date: Apr 30, 2014
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 29, 2015
• Journal: Medical Anthropology Quarterly
• Print ISSN: 0745-5194
• Electronic ISSN: 1548-1387
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 29
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 256-277
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/maq.12141
• Keywords: Tobacco control, Uruguay, Global health diplomacy, Politics of resignation.
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1433647