A matter of scholarly clarification (Comment on H. Wipfli, G. Huang, 2011. Power of the process: evaluating the impact of the framework convention on tobacco control negotiations, Health Policy, 100:107-115).

摘要

In reviewing Health Policy I was quite surprised when I came across the title of a new article, Power of the process: evaluating the impact of the framework convention on tobacco control, which is strikingly similar to the title of a paper I delivered at a plenary session of the 11 th World Conference on Tobacco or Health over a decade ago, The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control: The Power of the Process [ 1 ]. In the new Health Policy article, the authors performed an interesting empirical analysis adding further support to the concept that an international negotiation process itself may alter behavior of nations prior to the actual adoption and entry into force of a legal instrument.However, as a professor of global health law intimately involved in initiation and the development of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control [2], I would like to clarify some important issues. Wipfli and Huang suggest that consideration of the important effect of the "power of the process" during the negotiations of the FCTC was a mere "hypothesis" of "WHO officials" who, according to these authors, were apparently trying to "play down" the unsure outcome of the treaty negotiations. I wish to clarify that the "power oftheprocess" was well understood at the time of the FCTC negotiations, is reflected in the published literature, and was considered in the development of the Convention. The conclusion of the Wipfli and Huang article is not a novel analysis as suggested by the authors.