Abstract
In accordance with the provisions of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), each country shall promote and strengthen public awareness of tobacco control issues (Article 12). Many parties to the FCTC have adopted national tobacco control programs to organize their tobacco control activities. The aim of our study was to analyze the organization and funding of the Polish Tobacco Control Program in years 2000–2018. Document analysis of The Program and reports from its implementation were performed in accordance to the Agency for Health Technology Assessment in Poland (AHTAPol) recommendations and the WHO FCTC guidelines for Article 12 implementation. Spending was also analyzed. The study showed both inadequate planning of and funding for Polish Tobacco Control Program. The Program was developed without use of best practices detailed in the WHO FCTC guidelines as well as in national guidelines prepared by AHTAPol. The experience of Poland shows that although earmarking tobacco taxes has existed in the law, it has been largely ineffective due to the poor Tobacco Control Program design and insufficient funding resulting from a poor execution of the earmarking law. This may be a warning to other countries to strive to create law, compliance with which can be verified and controlled.
Highlights
In accordance with the provisions of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), each country shall promote and strengthen public awareness of tobacco control issues (Article12)
In accordance with the requirements of the treaty, many parties to the FCTC have adopted national tobacco control programs to organize their tobacco control activities. This was met with active resistance from the tobacco industry, the overcoming of which required joint efforts by governments with the support of civil society organizations [1,2,3,4]
The Program included the following tasks: monitoring the situation in the field of use and cultivation of crop tobacco, effective protection from tobacco smoke, offering assistance in smoking cessation, information and warnings about the risks, health issues related to the use of tobacco, eliminating marketing practices violating the prohibition of advertising and promotion of tobacco, implementing economic and administrative stimuli limiting the consumption of tobacco products
Summary
In accordance with the provisions of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), each country shall promote and strengthen public awareness of tobacco control issues (Article12). In accordance with the requirements of the treaty, many parties to the FCTC have adopted national tobacco control programs to organize their tobacco control activities. The tasks described in the document were not designed as the stages of Program implementation and had no deadlines. It is worth stating that in the last available annual report on the Program’s implementation from 2016, the following summary of the implemented activities can be found: “Due to the limited budget resources that could be used to finance Program tasks, their implementation in 2016 focused mainly on priority tasks, i.e., on the monitoring, educational and information activities directed to the people exposed to passive smoking, as well as on conducting education among various target groups” [22]
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