Tobacco control in Asia-Pacific: wins, challenges and targets.

For many decades, the international tobacco industry has set its sights on Asia, due to the large population numbers, the high prevalence of male smokers who might shift to its brands, and the extremely low number of female smokers who could possibly be induced into starting smoking. Because of US trade threats against several Asian countries in the 1980s, Asia became quickly aware that tobacco control involved politics, legislation, economics and trade. Several Asian jurisdictions pioneered tobacco control measures, and the Western Pacific is still the only WHO region where all countries have ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

Improving Information to Enable Effective Tobacco Control Intervention and Measure Progress Over Time: The Cambodia Country Experience.

Tobacco is a leading cause of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) which kill about 41 million people each year. Of these, 15 million die prematurely between the ages of 30 and 69 years, most of which occur in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals and their targets under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development provides a new impetus for countries to accelerate tobacco control efforts as they specifically call for strengthening implementation of the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and striving to achieve a one-third reduction in premature deaths from NCDs.

Tobacco control in Asia.

For the purpose of this article, Asia refers to WHO's combined South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions and thus includes Australia and New Zealand. Asia has the highest number of tobacco users and is the prime target of transnational tobacco companies. The future of global tobacco control rests in this region and the challenges are clear.