The World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), an international treaty that establishes measures to reduce tobacco consumption and has 183 signatory countries, celebrates 20 years since its official entry into force on February 27, 2005. Since then, the majority of the world's population has been protected with at least one measure to discourage smoking, which has translated into millions of lives saved.
The Institute for Clinical and Health Effectiveness (IECS), an academic institution affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine of the UBA, takes advantage of this date to reaffirm its commitment to the fight against this public health problem that continues to be the main cause of preventable deaths in the world and a burden on health systems and the economy of countries.
Smoking not only represents a health risk, but also has a significant economic impact, which has been widely documented in various investigations carried out by the institution.
For 18 years, the IECS has led research on the burden of disease and death attributable to tobacco use in Latin America and other countries, as well as the health and economic impact of adopting different control measures, such as increasing taxes. Several of these studies have served as the basis for the approval of laws that regulate and limit tobacco use. A repository in https://tabaco.iecs.org.ar/ provides access to over 200 publications and infographics modelling the smoking situation in 14 countries.
Likewise, the IECS promoted the development of the first Guide to good practices for journalistic coverage of tobaccoAmong other things, the document sheds light on the strategies of concealment and interference adopted by the industry in the face of evidence of the addictive power and negative effects of its products, including appealing through advertising and marketing to people's desire for freedom and opposing health advice as a way of resisting the paternalism of public health.