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.

Unaddressed non-energy use in the chemical industry can undermine fossil fuels phase-out.

Around 13% of fossil fuels globally are used for non-combustion purposes. Fossil fuel processing plants, such as petroleum refineries, exhibit interdependent material and energy system dynamics, making the transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems more challenging without addressing the non-energy outputs. This study explores the future role of fossil fuels for non-energy purposes in climate-stringent scenarios with restrictions on alternative feedstock availability, focusing on the primary chemicals sector.

Bitter taste of the tobacco industry interference in Brazil.

Objective: Although Brazil became the first country worldwide to ban the sale of all tobacco products with any additive that could alter their flavours and tastes in 2012, its implementation was effectively halted by tobacco industry lawsuits, including a constitutional challenge filed in the Federal Supreme Court in 2013. This study aimed at examining, for the first time in the country, the evolution over time of the new registrations of tobacco products with additives that would have been banned if not for the tobacco industry's interference ('counterfactual scenario').

Methods: We used the newly available public database on the registration of tobacco products developed by the Health Regulatory Agency (from 2008 onwards).

Maternal Smoking Prevalence in Brazil in 2013 and 2019: Not What We Expected When They Were Expecting!

Introduction: Monitoring tobacco use during pregnancy is critical for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We examined changes between 2013 and 2019 in the relative differences in smoking prevalence rates between pregnant and nonpregnant women aged 18-49 years.

Aims And Methods: We used data from a nationally representative health survey conducted in Brazil in 2013 and 2019.

[What does the Brazilian National Health Survey have to say about the influence of cigarette spending on household income?].

In a country whose indicators of population impoverishment continue to increase, it is concerning that individuals spend money to buy cigarettes instead of using this resource in actions that strengthen aspects of the well-being of their lives and that of their families. Based on the Brazilian National Health Survey conducted in 2019, the influence of spending on manufactured cigarettes on the family budget in households with at least one smoker was estimated, stratified by sociodemographic characteristics. Brazilian smokers allocated around 8% of their average per capita monthly household income to the purchase of manufactured cigarettes.

[The sale of single cigarettes in Brazil from 2008 to 2019: one more cause of concern?].

In Brazil, the sale of cigarettes is only allowed in closed packages with 20 units. The evolution over time of the proportion of adult smokers who purchased single manufactured cigarettes in their last purchase was evaluated. Data from the Global Adult Tobacco Survey conducted in 2008 and the Brazilian National Health Survey conducted in 2013 and 2019 were used.

Smokers who were seen by a doctor or other healthcare provider for any health concern in Brazil: what a missed opportunity to encourage smoking cessation!

Objectives: This study aimed to examine changes in the proportion of smokers who were advised to quit smoking by health professionals as part of routine consultations or interactions with their patients between 2008 and 2019.

Study Design: Serial cross-sectional study.

Methods: Data from two nationally representative cross-sectional surveys were used to examine changes over time in the proportions of smokers who were seen by a doctor or other healthcare provider for any health concern and were advised to quit smoking ('Advice_HP').

[Is information on social rights accessible to cancer patients?].

Brazilian legislation provides for rights for cancer patients in order to assist with their treatment and mitigate the expenses they face during their illness. This study aimed to calculate the proportion of individuals undergoing cancer treatment at a Brazilian Unified National Health System (SUS) referral center who reported being aware of 15 specific legal rights, according to the population subgroup eligible to request each right. All adult cancer patients starting treatment at the Juiz de Fora Women's Association for Preventing and Fighting Cancer Hospital (ASCOMCER), Minas Gerais State, from March to July 2022, were interviewed (n = 62).

The cigarette market in Brazil: new evidence on illicit practices from the 2019 National Health Survey.

Objective: To explore new evidence on illicit practices, such as selling legal brands below the minimum legal price (MLP), and smugglers selling illicit brands at or above the MLP.

Methods: For the first time in Brazil, self-reported information on cigarette brand name and price paid per pack in smokers' last purchase from a nationally representative survey conducted in 2019 was used to distinguish the illicit and the legal markets. We estimated the proportion of illicit cigarette consumption, using the combination of brand and price.

Law compliance, why do we need it? Comparative data from the Brazilian National Survey of School Health (PeNSE) on adolescents' access to cigarettes.

In recent decades, Brazil has made significant progress in fighting the tobacco epidemic. However, recent national data suggest a probable stagnation in the reduction of smoking initiation among youth and adolescents. The objective of this study was to evaluate the evolution over time of compliance with the law that prohibits the sale of cigarettes to minors in Brazil.

Patterns of Birth Cohort‒Specific Smoking Histories in Brazil.

Introduction: Smoking prevalence has decreased considerably in Brazil from 34.8% in 1989 to 12.6% in 2019 owing to the implementation of strong tobacco control policies.

Are there synergies in the decarbonization of aviation and shipping? An integrated perspective for the case of Brazil.

Aviation and shipping account for 22% of total transport-related CO emissions. Low-carbon fuels (such as biofuels and e-fuels) are the most promising alternatives to deeply decarbonize air and maritime transport. A number of technological routes focused on the production of renewable jet fuel can coproduce marine fuels, emulating the economies of scope of crude oil refineries.

Recent evidence on the illicit cigarette trade in Latin America.

The tobacco industry continues to present the illicit trade of tobacco products as a reason to slow, stop, or reverse tobacco control efforts in Latin America, including increasing tobacco excise taxes. In most cases, industry estimates of illicit trade, usually non-transparent and flawed, dwarf those of independent, rigorous research. Often, independent studies find that the levels of illicit trade are mostly non-consequential or easily manageable (<12%).

Inter-sectoral prioritization of climate technologies: insights from a Technology Needs Assessment for mitigation in Brazil.

Unlabelled: Technological development is key for national strategies to cope with the Paris Agreement's goals. Technology Needs Assessments (TNAs) aim to identify, prioritize, and diffuse climate change mitigation and/or adaptation technologies in developing countries. Their methodology includes a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) framework but, although many countries already conducted a TNA, literature lacks discussions on country-specific processes for a TNA, as it usually follows a one-size-fits-all approach.

Indicators related to smoking cessation in Brazil, National Health Survey, 2013 and 2019 editions.

Objective: To describe the indicators of smoking cessation in 2013 and 2019 for Brazil and federative units, according to sociodemographic variables, collected in the National Health Survey (PNS).

Methods: Cross-sectional, population-based and descriptive study with data from the 2013 and 2019 PNS, a household survey collected by trained interviewers. The prevalence of ex-smokers and the proportion of smokers who tried to quit smoking in the 12 months prior to the interview, and respective confidence intervals (95%CI) were calculated, according to sociodemographic variables.

Cigarette butts in two urban areas from Brazil: Links among environmental impacts, demography and market.

Environmental impacts are currently linked to smoking cigarette behavior, as cigarette butts (CBs) represent the most common litter item in natural areas. Despite this, even the best ranked Brazilian cities, in terms of urban cleaning, have no information about urban littered CBs. Thus, CBs were monitored in Santos and Niterói cities, aiming to assess contamination, Cigarette Butt Pollution Index (CBPI) and the illegal market size.

Brazilian smokers are ready for the ban on flavour additives in tobacco to be implemented.

Brazil became the first country to approve a national policy to ban all flavour additives in all tobacco leaf products in 2012. However, as of February 2022, the policy remained to be implemented. Cross-sectional data come from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Brazil Wave 3 Survey among adult smokers (N = 1216) in 2016-2017.

"Tobacco denormalization at home": the contribution of the smoking ban in enclosed workplaces in Brazil.

Estimates suggest that exposure to environmental tobacco smoke is related to 1.2 million deaths per year worldwide. Synergy between various anti-smoking legislative and educational measures is essential to stimulate cessation and prevent initiation.

Achievements, challenges, priorities and needs to address the current tobacco epidemic in Latin America.

Most Latin American countries have signed and ratified the FCTC, although implementation has been uneven. Countries across the region were relatively quick to adopt mandatory smoke-free workplace policies, but regional progress in other areas has been slower. In taxation, for example, Uruguay and Brazil have made considerable progress while Paraguay and Bolivia have relatively weak policies.

Prevalence of electronic nicotine delivery systems and waterpipe use in Brazil: where are we going?

Objective: To describe the prevalence of use of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) and waterpipe in Brazil, by population subgroups, and to evaluate the trend between 2013 and 2019.

Methods: We used data from the 2019 National Health Survey to estimate the prevalence of lifetime and current use of ENDS and current use of waterpipes by socio-behavioral characteristics. Differences in prevalence over time were calculated using data from the III Brazilian Household Survey on Substance Use-2015 and the National Health Survey-2013.

Straw cigarette branding: misleading descriptors and a new Marlboro man.

Background: Straw cigarettes are hand-rolled tobacco in a corn straw, common in Brazil and believed to be less harmful by consumers. Traditionally consumed in rural areas and by men, a recent increase in use among young people in urban areas was observed. This study assessed marketing appeals of straw cigarette packaging in Brazil.