Brazil cuts smoking rate by half in 2 decades

The number of smokers in Brazil has shrunk by nearly half in almost two decades thanks to the comprehensive anti-tobacco legislation the South American country has enacted. In 1989, some 32 percent of Brazilians aged 15 and above smoked, and the figure dropped to 17.2 percent by 2008, according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). Brazil is a pioneer in making anti-smoking laws, said Felipe Mendes, who is with Brazil's National Committee for the Implementation of the World Health Organization's (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (CONICQ). The country, which launched its anti-tobacco regulations long before the WHO convention was adopted in 2003, helped draft the WHO document, which recommended a series of actions for countries to curb smoking by preventing youngsters from picking up the habit in the first place. By 1996, Brazil had regulated cigarette and cigar advertisements on radio and TV, minimizing the exposure of children and adolescents to the commercials. Producers were also forced to include a health warning from the health ministry at the end of each advertisement. By 2000, advertisements for tobacco products were banned outright from the media. In the following year, tobacco firms had to feature health ministry warnings against smoking on the back of the cigarette packages. The full-color advertisement featured not only written warnings, but also gruesome pictures of damaged lungs and other organs to grab smokers' attention. "The messages were conceived with two objectives: to inform the population of the risks and to cause aversion among consumers. They aim to counter the attraction of the fancy colored packaging and cause rejection," Mendes said. In 2011, a new regulation was unveiled to ban smoking in all enclosed public spaces in Brazil, such as malls, restaurants, hospitals, schools and commercial buildings. Smoking will bring not only health concerns, but also financial problems. With 25 million smokers, Brazil spends 21 billion reals (8.75 billion U.S. dollars) a year on the treatment for tobacco-related diseases and on pensions for the dependents of smokers who died, Mendes said, adding it has become a heavy financial burden on the social security and public healthcare systems. That cost is somewhat offset by the increased taxation on tobacco products, which also helped cut down smoking. Mendes cited a study, saying rising prices were responsible for a 46-percent drop in the number of smokers in Brazil. The campaign continued, as the health ministry said its warnings will have to cover the entire back of a cigarette package and up to 30 percent of the front by 2016. The National Cancer Institute also contributed to the campaign by educating schoolchildren about the risks of smoking, while the agricultural ministry is encouraging tobacco producers to switch to other crops. A multilateral approach will lead to much better results, said Mendes. "It is important to understand tobacco control not only as a healthcare matter, but as something that has a social, economic and environmental impact. You need a state agenda on tobacco control....If only the healthcare sector works on it, the impact is limited," he said.