Areas of Work

Tobacco Free Initiative (TFI)

Tobacco is a major cause of death in the world. One in ten adults worldwide (about 5 million) die each year from smoking related illnesses. If current smoking patterns continue, it will cause some 10 million deaths annually by 2020. Half the people that smoke today – about 650 million people – will eventually be killed by tobacco.

The objective of the WHO Tobacco Free Initiative (TFI) is to reduce the global burden of disease and death caused by tobacco, thereby protecting present and future generations from the devastating health, social, environmental and economic consequences of tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco smoke.

The primary strategy of WHO is to promote a global response to the tobacco epidemic through global policy leadership, encourages mobilization at all levels of society; and promotes the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), encourages countries to adhere to its principles, and supports them in their efforts to implement tobacco control measures based on its provisions.

The role of WHO TFI Thailand is to strengthen national tobacco control policy, leadership and capacity.

Coordinate, facilitate and support the Government authorities and NGO networks in their implementation of WHO FCTC and the National Tobacco Control Policy and Plan.

Tobacco Control in Thailand

Thailand has a distinctive tobacco control model based on close cooperation between the Ministry of Public Health, the Thai Health Promotion Foundation and a very active coalition of tobacco control nongovernmental organizations guided by a unique generation of creative civil society leaders.

This model has allowed Thailand to implement a number of strong policy measures to protect the Thai population from the dangers of tobacco. Such measures include key approaches to reducing tobacco consumption, particularly in the areas of taxation, packaging and labeling, advertising bans and smoke-free public areas. As a result of these measures, the prevalence of smoking has steadily decreased over time among both sexes, and exposure to second-hand smoke among households has declined. Despite decreasing trends, however, challenges persist. Smoking rates remain high among adult men. A higher proportion of younger women are now smoking compared with their predecessors. Exposure to second-hand smoke is still high. Read more

Tobacco Surveillance

This component includes supporting the establishment of the National Tobacco Surveillance System, data-gathering and analysis of tobacco use, exposure to second-hand smoke, health outcomes, policy implementation and industry monitoring. This will be achieved as part of the Global Tobacco Control Report process as well as through work with CDC Foundation in the area of surveillance. It also includes undertaking The Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) to measure trends in exposure to tobacco and tobacco smoke and the economic impact of legislation.

Ongoing tasks:

      Provide technical assistance to governmental and non-governmental organizations involved in the development of the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) proposal.

      Communicate and discuss all technical matters with the CDC Foundation.

Partners:

Government: Department of Disease Control, International Health Policy Program (IHPP), Health System Research Institute (HSRI)

Non-Government: Tobacco Control Research and Knowledge Management Centre (TRC), National Statistical Office (NSO), Thai Health Promotion Institute (THPI), Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) Thailand.