Lifecycle Management as a Roadmap to the Tobacco Endgame

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Complex Systems Science
• Enterprise Architecture

Background:

• The U.S. tobacco control landscape is a complex, adaptive system.
• It involves diverse stakeholders, evolving products, regulations, social norms, and industry countermeasures.
• Managing this complexity necessitates a coordinated, enterprise-wide approach accounting for dynamic interactions and emergent risks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conceptualize tobacco control as an evolving enterprise using a lifecycle model.
• To integrate public health objectives with legal, operational, and cultural change processes.
• To provide a framework for achieving and sustaining the tobacco endgame.

Main Methods:

• Applying complex systems thinking.
• Utilizing the Zachman enterprise architecture model.
• Incorporating public health best practices.

Main Results:

• A six-phase lifecycle model for tobacco control: Conception & Initiation, Policy & System Design, Implementation & Operation, Evaluation & Adaptation, Consolidation & Endgame Transition, and Sustainment or Sunset.
• Each phase includes governance structures, performance benchmarks, and transition criteria.
• The lifecycle framing supports strategic sequencing, cross-sector alignment, and risk mitigation.

Conclusions:

• Viewing tobacco control as a complex enterprise with a lifecycle model offers a roadmap to the tobacco endgame.
• This approach enhances policy coherence, resource efficiency, and adaptability.
• It enables a resilient and measurable pathway to eliminating commercial tobacco sales.