Quitline Information Included on Cigarette Packaging: An Assessment of Country Adherence to WHO FCTC Guidelines, 2007 to 2018.

Christopher M. Seitz,Kenneth D. Ward,Zubair Kabir

doi:10.3390/ijerph182212193

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to evaluate country adherence to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) guidelines in terms of including quitline information on cigarette packaging. Data were gathered from the WHO’s Global Health Observatory database. The study included countries that were signatories to the FCTC, had a toll-free quitline, and required health warnings on cigarette packaging. Countries were then classified by income level according to the World Bank. From 2007 to 2018, the number of countries that established a quitline increased from 34 to 60. During the same timeframe among those countries, the number of countries that included information about the quitline on cigarette packaging increased from 5 to 37, with a larger proportion (79%) of high-income countries promoting their quitlines on cigarette packaging compared to middle-income (45%) countries. Although there was an increase in adherence to the WHO FCTC guidelines, there is still a need for several countries to include quitline information on cigarette packaging.

Highlights

In 2003, the World Health Organization (WHO) responded to the global consequences of tobacco use by creating the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC)
As of 2018, a larger proportion (79%) of high-income countries were promoting their quitlines on cigarette packaging compared to middle-income countries (45%) (Table 1)
By 2018, all countries that advertised their quitlines on cigarette packaging paired the information with graphic pictorial health warnings (Table 1)

Summary

Introduction

In 2003, the World Health Organization (WHO) responded to the global consequences of tobacco use by creating the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). As an international public health treaty, the FCTC requires signatories to implement a variety of policies that have been shown to be effective at reducing both the supply and demand of tobacco products [1]. The acronym condenses the FCTC into six evidence-based strategies: Monitor tobacco use, Protect people from tobacco smoke, Offer help to quit tobacco use, Warn about the dangers of tobacco, Enforce bans on tobacco advertising and promotion, and Raise taxes on tobacco products [3]. The WHO determines each country’s level of MPOWER implementation [4] and several research studies have shown that there is a strong relationship between countries with high implementation of MPOWER and low smoking rates [5,6,7,8,9,10,11]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion