Commercial Tobacco Endgame Goals: Early Experiences From Six Countries

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Tobacco Control
• Health Policy

Background:

• Global tobacco use poses significant health risks.
• Many nations are implementing "endgame goals" to drastically lower smoking rates.
• The INSPIRED project examines the initial experiences of six pioneering countries in adopting these goals.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe and compare the early experiences of Canada, Finland, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland, and Sweden with their tobacco endgame goals.
• To analyze the nature of endgame goals, accompanying strategies, and identified enablers and barriers.
• To assess perceived advantages and disadvantages of these endgame strategies.

Main Methods:

• Data collection on endgame goal implementation up to 2018 in six countries.
• Collating information on goal specifics, interventions, and strategies.
• Analyzing enablers, barriers, advantages, and disadvantages.

Main Results:

• Participating countries had low smoking prevalence and strong smoke-free policies, aiming for ≤5% prevalence by 2025-2035.
• Most countries had action plans by 2018, but lacked specific endgame measures; equity concerns persisted.
• While generally positive, experiences indicated a need for additional interventions to equitably reach endgame targets.

Conclusions:

• Endgame goals and their implementation varied significantly across countries.
• Tailoring endgame strategies to specific social, cultural, and political contexts is crucial.
• Achieving endgame goals equitably and timely necessitates more substantial and targeted interventions.