Publications

• Economic analysis of demand using data from the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS)
  Economics of tobacco toolkit

WHO technical manual on tobacco tax administration

• Papers on tobacco taxation
  Published by the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease

The Millennium Development Goals and Tobacco Control

• Curbing the epidemic: governments and the economics of tobacco control
  The World Bank report

• Development assistance committee (DAC) guidelines and reference series - poverty and health
  pdf, 992kb
  Health is higher on the international agenda than ever before, especially concerning the health of the poor, which is an essential component of economic development. Aside from the intrinsic value of health, investment in health is a strategically important and often underestimated component of economic development. For emerging countries, substantially improved health outcomes are a prerequisite to breaking out of the poverty cycle. This DAC reference document on poverty and health, jointly published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and WHO, extends the analysis and recommendations of the DAC Guidelines on Poverty Reduction by setting out the essential components of a broad “pro-poor” health approach for action both within and beyond the health system. This report recognizes that noncommunicable diseases have a marked impact on the health of poor populations and that tobacco-related diseases are strongly related to poverty. Habitual tobacco use is projected by 2030 to cause an estimated seven million deaths annually in developing countries from tobacco-related diseases. The high prevalence of tobacco use among men with low income and low education has serious poverty implications because the risk of developing dangerous diseases and dying at an early age is already substantially increased.

• FAO projections of tobacco production, consumption and trade to the year 2010

• Economics, social and health issues in tobacco control
  pdf, 219kb
  Report of a WHO international meeting Kobe, Japan, 3-4 December 2001.

• Impact of tobacco-related illnesses in Bangladesh
  pdf, 2.05Mb
  The study is a WHO Bangladesh publication. It has been commissioned by WHO HQ and WHO Bangladesh. The study estimates the cost attributed to the treatment of tobacco-related illnesses in Bangladesh. The cost to the economy is also calculated. The analysis was made based on data collected from household and hospital cost and patients surveys. Findings reported that tobacco use imposes a net positive cost to the economy of Bangladesh.

Economics of tobacco control in the countries of MERCOSUR and associate countries

Following a request from the Tobacco Control Group of the MERCOSUR countries, WHO commissioned studies in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay. These economic studies describe in details each country's tobacco sector, including the employment generated by the cultivation and manufacture of tobacco, trade in tobacco products and an estimation of the level of contraband in cigarettes and other tobacco products. In addition, the studies describe each country's taxation system, estimating the impact of tax increases on government revenues and tobacco consumption. The results of these studies demonstrate the effectiveness of price and tax increases in reducing tobacco consumption.

• Confronting the tobacco epidemic in an era of trade liberalization
  This paper examines further the links between international trade liberalization and tobacco consumption. It explores new horizons for econometric and other economic research focusing on trade, investment and tobacco, and considers the legal and political issues involved in proposed efforts to address the liberalization of trade in tobacco within the WHO's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

• Confronting the epidemic: a global agenda for tobacco control research
  In recent studies, global trade liberalization and market penetration have been linked to a risk of increased tobacco consumption, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. This paper examines further the links between international trade liberalization and tobacco consumption. It explores new horizons for econometric and other economic research focusing on trade, investment and tobacco, and considers the legal and political issues involved in proposed efforts to address the liberalization of trade in tobacco within the WHO's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.