Capacity building and initiatives
Inadequate resources
Most national tobacco programmes are inadequately understaffed and under-resourced. Governments collect USD 133 billion in tobacco excise tax revenues, but spend less than USD 1 billion on tobacco control, with this gap being most evident in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In middle-income countries, per capita excise tax revenues are more than 1,000 times larger than public spending on tobacco control, while in low-income countries they are more than 4,000 times larger.
Strategically-designed national capacity building measures will have a great impact in reversing the tobacco epidemic, particularly in LMICs. The development of a national plan of action is the foundation for successful tobacco control at the country level.
Other important elements include:
- establishing an effective infrastructure for a national tobacco control programme, training and education;
- raising public awareness through effective communications and media advocacy;
- programming specific tobacco control activities, legislative measures for tobacco control; and
- exploring economic interventions and funding initiatives.