Anti-tobacco policies, plain packaging and the Brazilian legal framework. Part 2: data analysis and impacts of anti-tobacco policies in Brazil

Abstract

This article is part of a study whose first part was published in February 2017 and contrary to the more theoretical approach employed in the first article, the present work will predominantly use documental research, seeking to analyze the data of the most varied researches related to health and tobacco in order to verify if the tobacco control policies have been effective, search for existing difficulties and, finally, propose some indicators for future studies and highlight matters that still deserve attention by the current policies. In general, there was a reduction in the number of smokers in Brazil and a significant increase in the proportion of smokers who tried to quit smoking, which can be attributed to the effectiveness of anti-tobacco policies. The implementation of information and awareness policies would be a response to many of the difficulties verified in this article, in order to reduce the asymmetries between groups, regions, school administrative dependencies, etc. However, other issues call for more targeted actions, such as the effective inclusion of policies in the school environment, as well as greater attention to straw cigarettes and non-industrialized products and how awareness can be raised about the risks of their consumption.