In just a few weeks, governments from across the world will gather in Geneva for the 11th Conference of the Parties (COP11) to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). While attention often focuses on the big players, this year Barbados has both opportunity and a responsibility to speak up for both the Caribbean and millions of nicotine consumers who have been systematically excluded from global policy debates.
It’s no secret that the COP process has grown increasingly disconnected from the people it claims to protect. Meetings are closed to the public, journalists are shut out, and the voices of smokers, vapers, and users of other safer nicotine alternatives are completely absent. Even reasonable proposals from small nations, like the initiative from St Kitts and Nevis to create a Working Group on Tobacco Harm Reduction, have been quietly dismissed without explanation.
Meanwhile, behind the scenes, powerful private donors like Michael Bloomberg pour hundreds of millions into shaping policy, pushing for flavour bans, vaping restrictions, and tax hikes on nicotine pouches and heated tobacco: products that have helped thousands of Barbadians quit smoking and reach the lowest smoking rate in the region.
In this context, Barbados can make a difference.
As a respected voice in the Caribbean and an active Party to the FCTC, Barbados is well positioned to challenge the current imbalance not just by advocating for science-based tobacco harm reduction, but by calling for greater transparency, fairness, and inclusion in how decisions are made.
At COP, every voice matters. Decisions are made by consensus, which means that even one country speaking up can block misguided proposals. Barbados doesn’t need to shout. It just needs to speak clearly and confidently on behalf of the region and on behalf of the millions of adult consumers who have switched to less harmful alternatives across the world and now find themselves under threat.
If Barbados is serious about defending tobacco harm reduction and its sovereignty, Barbadian COP11 delegates should support the creation of a Working Group on Harm Reduction, to ensure that the science and lived experience behind these strategies are no longer ignored; demand transparency and reject donor-driven bias; and stand up for consumer inclusion, by recognising that real public health cannot happen without involving those most affected.
At COP11, Barbados can lead – not by size or force, but by principle. By standing up for truth, fairness, and the right of people to make informed, safer choices, Barbados can help reshape global tobacco control for the better. The world will be watching.
CARICOM must speak with ONE VOICE.