Thailand's Campaign for Tobacco Control
2016
This case study describes tobacco control efforts in Thailand, including taxation, laws and restrictions, and a health promotion campaign. Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, a coalition of advocates led by the Thai Anti-Smoking Campaign Project (TASCP) provided public education about smoking and lobbied legislators against the growing power of Big Tobacco. As a result, Thailand developed a comprehensive and multifaceted approach to tobacco control, including seven key approaches: 1. tax increases, 2. restrictions on sales and distribution, 3. restrictions on advertising and marketing, 4. health warnings on cigarette packages, 5. health promotion through earmarked tax funds, 6. restrictions on public smoking, and 7. monitoring and evaluation of smoking prevalence and trends. The case study further describes the impact on smoking prevalence and smoking-related mortality, the cost-effectiveness of the tobacco control measures, and reasons for success.
This case study is part of Millions Saved: New Cases of Proven Success in Global Health, a collection of case studies produced by the Center for Global Development that profiles 18 remarkable cases in which large-scale efforts to improve health in low- and middle-income countries succeeded, and 4 examples of promising interventions that fell short of their health targets when scaled-up in real world conditions. The cases featured on the website are shortened versions of the respective book chapters in the print edition.
Impact evaluation: Using the widely validated SimSmoke tobacco control model, researchers have documented the impact of Thailand’s tobacco control policies in reducing smoking and smoking-related deaths.
Thailand's Campaign for Tobacco Control
Source:
Glassman A, Temin M. Thailand’s Campaign for Tobacco Control. Millions Saved: New Cases of Proven Success in Global Health. Center for Global Development 2016. http://millionssaved.cgdev.org/case-studies/thailands-campaign-for-tobacco-control.