Endgame for Tobacco Use in Brazil

Abstract

Lung cancer is highly associated to smoking and passive smoking of tobacco, which led this somewhat rare disease to become common decades after the world dissemination of cigarette consumption that started with World War Two. Innumerable non-communicable diseases and other cancer types also associated to tobacco smoking have become public health issues. To counter the damaging effects of the exposure and consumption of tobacco products, an international treaty has been adopted: the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC). Its implementation generated a reduction in the consumption of tobacco around the world, including Brazil. However, in addition to health damages, harms to the environment and the rising costs associated to treating tobacco-related diseases, among others, began to be discussed, and innovating actions that were not originally considered in the treaty have been implemented. Therefore, reducing the prevalence of tobacco smoking among adults to below 5% through strategies called “tobacco endgame” became a goal. In Brazil, the high level of FCTC implementation, together with a smoking prevalence near 12% in the adult population, creates a favorable scenario for the application of these new measures. The endgame for tobacco smoking in Brazil includes strengthening current measures with more rigorous surveillance, followed by innovative measures that permanently end the availability and accessibility of smoking products derived from tobacco and nicotine.