Strategies for tobacco control and its rationale

Abstract

Tobacco has been used by human beings since thousands of years, but only in the XX Century it reached the consumption levels we know today. Over a billion people consume tobacco around the world; most of them started before 18 years old. (1). Tobacco consumption causes a strong addiction, very difficult to overcome. Tobacco smoke produces a chronic intoxication that seriously damages consumers and passive smoker’s health. According to World Health Organization (W.H.O), the human cost of tobacco use is 4.9 million death annually. Tobacco is the main avoidable death worldwide. The World Bank stated that tobacco use cause damages country economies for about 200 billion dollars a year (1, 12). In spite of knowing the facts, tobacco use is very difficult to eliminate, because it is a deep-rooted social behavior, a strong addiction and, mainly, it has as vector with a huge financial and political power: the tobacco industry, that promotes the epidemic and profits from it. Tobacco is a global issue and required a global answer. The World Health Assembly (WHA) approved a global treaty against this menace: The WHO-Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). The FCTC will not make the tobacco problem disappear, but if it is used appropriately, it could be an extremely effective tool to curb current trends of the tobacco epidemic. For protecting public health in the right way, countries must apply and enforce the strongest strategies. Otherwise; this treaty will be “one more treaty”, lacking effectiveness. The final result will depend on government and civil society action, especially in the health sector.