Lighting Fires for Tobacco Control

This article discusses how researchers can help encourage individual and political support for tobacco control. The author explains that the Ottawa Declaration on Tobacco and Sustainable Development "calls for concerted international action to support timely and locally relevant research to demonstrate tobacco’s impact, and curb the influence of the tobacco industry in poor countries. Information must also be disseminated so governments can develop their own effective tobacco control policies and programs."

The author explains that in general terms, much is already known about the multi-faceted threat that tobacco poses for the developing world. According to the author, the challenge is to communicate the dangers of tobacco in ways that take into account the priorities of countries dealing with a multitude of economic and other problems. Cultural factors have also allowed tobacco companies a freer hand to expand their markets, such as to countries in Asia. The difficulties of organising across borders and the entrenched idea that smoking is a matter of personal choice, are also factors fueling an extraordinary rise in the number of tobacco users in Asia.

The article reports that jurisdictions that have been able to communicate the hazards of tobacco have been particularly successful at curbing use and that one of the tools has been research that established the threat of second-hand tobacco smoke to non-smokers. It is further discussed how conditions in developing countries are much different, and thus capacity to engage in tobacco control is a greater challenge. The Thai Health Promotion Foundation has taken the approach that research must be precisely designed to meet the needs of public health campaigns. Rather than beginning with research and moving forward to policy positions and a public communications campaign, the Foundation believes that the policy direction should be established first and the research programme crafted to serve it.

It’s also the view of the Foundation’s general manager, Dr Supakorn Buasai, that tobacco policy can be substantially changed if three key groups are involved and informed. Politicians must be willing to take action and be informed about the policy options that are open to them. The public and social movements need access to the existing information on the impact of tobacco, particularly as it applies to their own country. Beyond that, they also need access to policymakers and the media. According to the article the research community plays a vital role in filling in the gaps. In terms of relating research to policy work, it is necessary to link tobacco use with broader concerns that non-governmental organisations (NGOs), governments, and international agencies are already engaged with.