Tobacco control: a comprehensive approach at country level in the Russian Federation

At the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st century, the Russian Federation was among the countries with highest prevalence of tobacco-smoking. The government’s efforts to reduce tobacco-smoking did not lead to any reduction in the tobacco epidemic in the country. At the same time, tobacco companies’ actions in the early 2000s contributed to further increases in prevalence of tobacco use in the Russian Federation. Consequently, the government immediately joined WHO’s efforts to combat the tobacco epidemic by taking an active part in the development and further implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). The adoption and the implementation of the FCTC has resulted in significant positive results over a short period in a country with very high prevalence of tobacco use. A steady annual reduction in tobacco use since 2005 is evidenced by sales declines for tobacco products. The most significant decline in tobacco sales was registered in 2014, the first year after the law took effect, when tobacco products sales declined from 395.5 billion in 2005 to 319.9 billion.