Cigarette butts to estimate the illicit cigarette consumption proportion in a major Brazilian city.

Background: Illicit cigarette consumption (ICC) results in cheaper cigarettes and lost tax revenue. Although several methods estimate the ICC proportion, the one based on cigarette butt (CB), the most littered item worldwide, is less common. This study aimed at estimating the ICC proportion of Guarujá, a major Brazilian city, based on littered CBs.

Equity and Prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Non-communicable diseases, particularly cardiovascular diseases, are the leading cause of decreased life expectancy and death in Latin America and the Caribbean. Although a lifestyle, which includes no tobacco use, good nutrition, and regular physical activity is touted as key to health, the environmental, racial, social and economic conditions, which underpin lifestyle are often ignored or considered only secondarily. Placing the main responsibility on a patient to change their lifestyle or to simply comply with pharmacological treatment ignores the specific conditions in which the individual lives.

Bridging the gap between science and public health: taking advantage of tobacco control experience in Brazil to inform policies to counter risk factors for non-communicable diseases.

Aims And Design: The historical and economic involvement of Brazil with tobacco, as a major producer and exporter, was considered an insurmountable obstacle to controlling the consumption of this product. Nevertheless, the country was able to achieve significant progress in implementing public policies and to take an international leadership position, meeting its constitutional commitment to protect public health. In this paper we provide a brief historical overview of tobacco control (TC) in Brazil, and analyse the factors that contributed to the major decline in tobacco consumption in the country over the last 20 years, as well as identify the challenges that had to be overcome and those still at play.