2 - Tobacco Control and Primary Prevention

Abstract

Tobacco is the single greatest contributor to development of lung cancer. Nearly all societies across the globe are afflicted with the tobacco epidemic, and smoking rates are rising for certain populations. Successful tobacco control is typically implemented not as a single measure but as part of a comprehensive, multifaceted approach using several concepts; the impact of one measure on smoking rates can be difficult to distill when several are implemented in combination. However, a concerted multifaceted effort using evidence-based strategies can alter the future course of the tobacco epidemic, with the potential to save millions of lives. The World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control provides a global tobacco-control strategy, including monitor tobacco use and prevention policies; protect people from tobacco smoke; offer to help quit tobacco use; warn about the dangers of tobacco; enforce bans on tobacco advertising; and, raise taxes as a tobacco control measure.