Table 4.

WHO Prioritized Research Agenda for Tobacco Control

“A range of information is required by policy-makers, programme managers and others working to reduce tobacco use and its consequences. This includes data on tobacco use patterns (including, for all smoked and smokeless tobacco products, prevalence, consumption, initiation and cessation behaviours) and the health consequences of tobacco use (including those from exposure to tobacco smoke and use of non-cigarette forms of tobacco); adoption and implementation of tobacco control policies and compliance with those policies; tobacco product sales, tax revenues, and extent of tobacco tax avoidance and tax evasion; resources devoted to and activities of tobacco control programmes; awareness of risks from tobacco use and exposure to communication and education-related efforts; the economic contribution of tobacco growing and manufacturing and the health care, lost productivity and other economic costs of tobacco use; tobacco industry tactics, including tobacco product pricing, tobacco company marketing activities and industry lobbying and other efforts to undermine tobacco control activities; social norms about tobacco use and support for tobacco control policies and programmes; and the social determinants of tobacco use. Tobacco-related surveillance requires the regular collection and analysis of representative and reliable data for the development of tobacco control policies and programmes of action. This surveillance information is needed for assessing the population-level impact of tobacco control interventions, as well as their impact on vulnerable populations, including children and adolescents, the poor, and women of childbearing age. The collection of data using representative and reliable instruments across all economic and social settings allows for comparability of measures across those settings.

Efforts to develop comprehensive surveillance systems for tobacco use in low- and middle-income countries are in their early stages. Most low- and middle-income countries do not conduct regular surveys to monitor tobacco use patterns, knowledge about the health consequences of tobacco use and exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, attitudes towards tobacco control policies, and other tobacco-related knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and practices. The reporting process mandated by the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the Global Adult Tobacco Survey, the Global Youth Tobacco Survey, the WHO STEPwise approach to chronic disease risk factor surveillance (STEPS), the WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic, and related efforts in many countries are addressing this gap, but much remains to be done to ensure ongoing surveillance, particularly with respect to policy implementation and tobacco company activities. This includes a need for culturally appropriate behavioural research instruments and tools for adequately assessing the local context in low- and middle-income countries.”

Note. Reddy et al. (2011). Reproduced with permission from the World Health Organization.