Public-private partnerships to reduce tobacco dependence

Four-fifths of the estimated one billion deaths that will be caused by tobacco dependence over the next 100 years will occur in low-income countries. Along with other tobacco control policy measures, the treatment for tobacco dependence is a cost-effective policy measure in low-income countries. In public health, public-private partnerships for drugs and vaccines and incentives for commercial private sector engagement are proposed to tackle the communicable diseases of the poor. This paper will argue that public-private partnerships are also an appropriate and important vehicle to reduce the harm caused by tobacco. For the pharmaceutical sector to engage in the marketing of tobacco dependence treatment products in low-income countries the incentives must be aligned, and a self-sustaining market must be developed. A rational market would be large, characterized by high volumes and low margins. The framework convention on tobacco control of the WHO provides a global infrastructure for taking public sector action to reduce the harm caused by tobacco. The convention could call for a proportion of tobacco tax from high-income countries to be used to fund tax credits and other incentives for increasing the access to tobacco dependence treatment in low-income countries.