Abstract

ABASCAL, Winston et al. Impact of the tobacco control policies. 2006-2009: National Program for Tobacco Control. Arch. Med Int [online]. 2013, vol.35, n. , suppl.4, pp.1-16. ISSN 0250-3816.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes the use of tobacco as one of the leading causes of preventable premature death and disease, highlighting tobacco consumption as a serious public health problem. Consequently, and given the impact of the use of tobacco on the health of its entire population, the policies designed in Uruguay to address it have acquired state-policy dimensions. In 2005, Uruguay implemented a package of measures for the control of tobacco; using comparable surveys, the study herein was designed to evaluate the change in the prevalence of the use of tobacco between 2006 and 2009. The analysis addressed both the overall outcomes and in certain groups. Albeit finding a significant decrease in the prevalence (29.9%), such a decline showed disparate results when analyzed by sex, age and educational level. The results suggest that the simultaneous implementation of all the measures set out in the WHO Framework Convention for the Control of Tobacco is an effective strategy to decrease the prevalence of tobacco in a short period of time.

Keywords : Tobacco; smoking/prevalence of tobacco; Tobacco cessation; National Program for Tobacco Control; Public health policies; Campaigns for tobacco control.