The Institute for Global Tobacco Control (IGTC) has been actively involved in the development of evidence-based recommendations to support tobacco control policy.
Dr. Jonathan Samet, director of the IGTC, has been an editor for multiple reports of the Surgeon General, including serving as senior scientific editor of the two most recent reports: The Health Consequences of Smoking, 2004 and The Health Consequences of Involuntary Smoking, 2006. In collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the IGTC has developed two accompanying databases profiling key articles cited in the reports and allowing the evidence to be synthesized and updated.
Using the Surgeon General’s model, the Institute collaborated with experts from Japan and the U.S. to develop the first evidence-based policy recommendations for tobacco control in Japan. The “Tobacco Free * Japan” report (2003) is being used to guide policy development and implementation in Japan with the goal of fulfilling the country’s obligations under the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
Research conducted by the IGTC has also served to motivate policy change. A study conducted in collaboration with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) found high levels of airborne nicotine in public places throughout Latin America. The results of the study, which were published in JAMA in 2004, prompted the government of Uruguay to implement a full ban on smoking in public places. It is anticipated that other countries in Latin America will soon follow Uruguay's example.
The Institute and PAHO have also collaborated in the development of recommendations to guide secondhand smoke policies on the international level. In 2005, a joint expert meeting on secondhand smoke was held in Montevideo, Uruguay, to develop recommendations for secondhand smoke policy. The report, due to be released by the World Health Organization in late 2006, will help to advance clean-indoor-air policies internationally.
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