<< Epidemiology and Intervention Research

Mexico

Our partner in Mexico is the National Institute for Public Health (INSP), Mexico’s leading institution for public health training and also a key resource for Central and South America. Through the Fogarty International Center award, the INSP conducted the first study in Mexico to estimate the burden of disease and the associated costs of smoking. This information is needed to motivate an increased tobacco tax in Mexico, a country with a relatively low tobacco tax rate. The initial project, to estimate the cost of medical attention of major tobacco-related diseases, was completed in 2005. The results confirmed the high costs associated with smoking and show the potential benefits resulting from tobacco control policies. A national-level study is being developed to provide evidence to support tobacco control policy-making throughout Mexico. Additional research is focusing on FCTC provisions concerning advertising. At issue is the need to better understand implementation and enforcement of the FCTC because appropriate legislation may be ineffective or meaningless without proper implementation and enforcement efforts.

In 2005, INSP produced the first comprehensive report on tobacco control in Mexico, “Primer Informe Sobre el Combate al Tabaquism México ante el Convenio Marco para el Control del Tabaco.” Using the FCTC as an organizing structure, this published work provides information on the tobacco control research being conducted in-country. Descriptions of the epidemic and its consequences on mortality, cost of medical attention, tobacco consumption among youth, tax policy, secondhand smoke, current legislation and interventions are the main topics in this extensive book. 

Projects
Health Care Costs Sttributable to Tobacco Consumption on a National Level in the Mexican Social Security Institute (INSS)  

Estimating the Demand for Smoking in Mexico  

Main Challenges to the FCTC on Tobacco Control in Mexico: A Surveillance Report from the Global Youth Tobacco Survey  

Analysis of the Impact of Cigarette Pack Graphic Warnings on Mexican Smokers  

Partners
National Institute of Public Health, Cuernavaca, Mexico

Related Publications
Samet J, Wipfli H, Perez-Padilla R, Yach D. Mexico and the tobacco industry: doing the wrong thing for the right reason? BMJ. 2006 Feb 11;332(7537):353-4. See article

Valdés-Salgado R, Lazcano-Ponce EC, Hernández-Avila M. Primer informe sobre el combate al tabaquismo. México ante el Convenio Marco para el Control del Tabaco, México. Cuernavaca: Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, 2005. Full text (Spanish)

Stillman F, Yang G, Figueiredo V, Hernandez-Avila M, Samet J. Building capacity for tobacco control research and policy. Tob Control. 2006 Jun;15 Suppl 1:i18-23. See article

Papers and Report from the Mexican National Tobacco Control Conference. Supplement: Salud Pública de México 2002; 44: s1-204. To obtain a copy, please contact Weza Cotman.