Curbing the tobacco epidemic in the Americas
Abstract
Though the devastating health effects of tobacco use are well known, tobacco’s
negative repercussions extend well beyond the obvious health outcomes. Tobacco
consumption creates a significant economic burden on societies because of both
the high costs of health care and the associated lost productivity. In addition,
tobacco use contributes to health inequalities and exacerbates poverty within and
between countries through the diversion of resources away from food and other
essential needs as well as through foregone income.
These and other adverse consequences of the tobacco epidemic disproportionately
affect low- and middle-income countries, where more than 80% of the
world’s smokers now live, including 127 million (or 11.4%), in the Region of the
Americas. Considering its tremendous health and economic costs, the tobacco
epidemic has the potential to undermine both social and economic
development.
The global response to tobacco is the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco
Control (FCTC), which has been ratified by 180 countries worldwide and
30 countries
in the Americas. The FCTC provides a blueprint for governments to
effectively curb the tobacco epidemic by implementing specific evidence-based interventions
to reduce consumption. These include: adopting tax and price measures
to reduce tobacco consumption; banning tobacco advertising, promotion and
sponsorship; creating smoke-free work and public spaces; requiring prominent
health warnings on tobacco packages; and combating illicit trade in tobacco products. These interventions have been identified as “best buys” in the WHO
Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases, which
calls for a 30% relative reduction in the prevalence of tobacco use by 2025. Of
note, raising taxes has proven to be the single most potent and cost-effective strategy
for reducing tobacco use...
Translated title
Cómo detener la epidemia del tabaquismo en la Región de las Américas
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