Trend of Smuggled Cigarette Consumption in Tehran in the Last Two Decades.

Background: Illicit tobacco trade is focused on Iran as a main target in the WHO's eastern Mediterranean region. Serial studies of Cigarette Packs Survey with same method were conducted in Tehran between 2003 and 2015 to evaluate consumed smuggled cigarettes. This study as the fourth Cigarette Packs Survey is designed to indicate the trends of illicit cigarette trade in Tehran in the last two decades.

Tool to monitor tobacco control policy implementation: the Tobacco Control Scale in Latin America. Adaptation process and pilot study.

Background: Monitoring tobacco control policy implementation is one of the keys for tobacco consumption reduction in Latin America (LA). This study reports on the adaptation of the Tobacco Control Scale (TCS) for use in LA countries and the level of tobacco control policy implementation in this region according to the scale.

Methods: Ecological cross-sectional survey.

The association between tobacco control policy implementation and country-level socioeconomic factors in 31 European countries.

European countries have made significant progress in implementing tobacco control policies to reduce tobacco use; however, whether socioeconomic status (SES) of a country may influence the implementation of such policies is unknown. The aim of this study is to assess the association between country-level SES and the implementation level of tobacco control policies in 31 European countries. An ecological study using data from Eurostat, Human Development Reports on several SES indicators and the Tobacco Control Scale (TCS) of 2016 was conducted to measure country-level tobacco control policies.

The Tobacco Control Scale as a research tool to measure country-level tobacco control policy implementation.

Introduction: The Tobacco Control Scale (TCS) was designed for advocacy purposes but has also been used as a research tool. In the present study, we characterized TCS use, its limitations and strengths, and critically assessed its use as a research instrument.

Methods: We conducted an extensive search of the biomedical databases PubMed and Web of Science for the keyword 'tobacco control scale' in all fields.

Potential impact of reduced tobacco use on life and health expectancies in Belgium.

Objectives: We investigated the potential impact of reduced tobacco use scenarios on total life expectancy and health expectancies, i.e., healthy life years and unhealthy life years.

Impact of tobacco control policies on smoking prevalence and quit ratios in 27 European Union countries from 2006 to 2014.

Background: Tobacco use is still highly prevalent in Europe, despite the tobacco control efforts made by the governments. The development of tobacco control policies varies substantially across countries. The Tobacco Control Scale (TCS) was introduced to quantify the implementation of tobacco control policies across European countries OBJECTIVE: To assess the midterm association of tobacco control policies on smoking prevalence and quit ratios among 27 European Union (EU) Member States (EU27).

Assessment of the European Union's illicit trade agreements with the four major Transnational Tobacco Companies.

To address the illicit cigarette trade, the European Union (EU) has signed agreements with the four major Transnational Tobacco Companies (TTCs) that involve establishing extensive systems of cooperation. All agreements foresee two types of payments: annual payments (totalling US$ 1.9 billion over 20 years) and supplementary seizure payments, equivalent to 100% of the evaded taxes in the event of seizures of their products.

Pricing Policies And Control of Tobacco in Europe (PPACTE) project: cross-national comparison of smoking prevalence in 18 European countries.

Limited data on smoking prevalence allowing valid between-country comparison are available in Europe. The aim of this study is to provide data on smoking prevalence and its determinants in 18 European countries. In 2010, within the Pricing Policies And Control of Tobacco in Europe (PPACTE) project, we conducted a face-to-face survey on smoking in 18 European countries (Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, England, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Sweden) on a total of 18 056 participants, representative for each country of the population aged 15 years or older.

Towards a greater understanding of the illicit tobacco trade in Europe: a review of the PMI funded 'Project Star' report.

Background: Following a legal agreement with the European Union (EU), Philip Morris International (PMI) commissions a yearly report ('Project Star', PS) on the European illicit cigarette trade from KPMG, the global accountancy firm.

Methods: Review of PS 2010 report. Comparison with data from independent sources including a 2010 pan-European survey (N=18,056).

Socioeconomic and country variations in cross-border cigarette purchasing as tobacco tax avoidance strategy. Findings from the ITC Europe Surveys.

Background: Legal tobacco tax avoidance strategies such as cross-border cigarette purchasing may attenuate the impact of tax increases on tobacco consumption. Little is known about socioeconomic and country variations in cross-border purchasing.

Objective: To describe socioeconomic and country variations in cross-border cigarette purchasing in six European countries.

Illicit cigarettes and hand-rolled tobacco in 18 European countries: a cross-sectional survey.

Objective: Little evidence, other than that commissioned by the tobacco industry, exists on the size of the illicit tobacco trade. This study addresses this gap by examining the level and nature of illicit cigarettes and hand-rolled tobacco in 18 European countries.

Design: Face-to-face cross-sectional survey on smoking.

Concern about passive smoking and tobacco control policies in European countries: an ecological study.

Background: Because of the magnitude of the global tobacco epidemic, the World Health Organisation developed the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), an international legally binding treaty to control tobacco use. Adoption and implementation of specific tobacco control measures within FCTC is an outcome of a political process, where social norms and public opinion play important roles. The objective of our study was to examine how a country's level of tobacco control is associated with smoking prevalence, two markers of denormalisation of smoking (social disapproval of smoking and concern about passive smoking), and societal support for tobacco control.

From cigarette smuggling to illicit tobacco trade.

Background: Tax policy is considered the most effective strategy to reduce tobacco consumption and prevalence. Tax avoidance and tax evasion therefore undermine the effectiveness of tax policies and result in less revenue for governments, cheaper prices for smokers and increased tobacco use. Tobacco smuggling and illicit tobacco trade have probably always existed, since tobacco's introduction as a valuable product from the New World, but the nature of the trade has changed.

Young adult smokers' perceptions of illicit tobacco and the possible impact of plain packaging on purchase behaviour.

Plain (unbranded) packaging for cigarettes is at the top of the tobacco control agenda in both Australia and Europe. The evidence suggests that it will benefit public health by decreasing the appeal of tobacco products and increasing the power of the health warning. The tobacco industry instead argues that plain packaging would make it easier to counterfeit cigarettes, which would both confuse consumers and reduce price; thereby increasing consumption.

Blood cigarettes: cigarette smuggling and war economies in central and eastern Africa.

Objective: To analyse cigarette smuggling practices in central and eastern Africa.

Methods: Primary data were gathered during long-term qualitative field research in which about 400 interviews were conducted. Analysis of secondary sources included academic literature and reports from non-government organisations, multilateral organisations and the press.

Prevalence of smuggled and foreign cigarette use in Tehran, 2009.

Background: Iran is one of two main target markets for tobacco smuggling in the WHO's Eastern Mediterranean Region. The Iranian government has a local tobacco monopoly but there is high demand for international brands. Informal reports show about 20% of cigarette consumption is smuggled brands.

The impact of eliminating the global illicit cigarette trade on health and revenue.

Aims: The purpose of this study was to update global estimates of the illicit cigarette trade, based on recent data, and estimate how many lives could be saved by eliminating it and how much revenue governments would gain.

Data Sources And Methods: Our estimates of illicit market share are based on formal and informal sources. Our method for estimating the effect of eliminating the illicit trade on tobacco related deaths is based on West et al.

Association between tobacco control policies and smoking behaviour among adolescents in 29 European countries.

Aims: To investigate the associations between well-known, cost-effective tobacco control policies at country level and smoking prevalence among 15-year-old adolescents.

Design: Multi-level modelling based on the 2005-06 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children Study, a cross-national study at individual level, and with country-level variables from the Tobacco Control Scale and published country-level databases.

Setting: Twenty-nine European countries.