Reprinted from Tobacco Control in Developing Countries, editors Prabhat Jha and Frank Chaloupka, with permission from Oxford University Press (copyright owner), 2000 Chapter 19 Strategic Priorities in Tobacco Control for Governments and International Agencies Prabhat Jha, Fred Paccaud, and Son Nguyen Any review of strategic priorities in tobacco control will tend to be simplistic, given the variation in factors affecting policy at the local level. The key goal of comprehensive tobacco-control programs is to improve health, but correcting market failures and reducing inequality are other important goals. For short-term progress in reducing mortality, programs need to be focused both on reducing the uptake of smoking by children and on helping adults to quit. Most tobacco-control programs will be a combination of price, information, and regulation interventions, but the relative importance of each of three components will vary across countries by income level and administrative capacity. Where such combined control programs have been evaluated, they appear to be effective, and they can be implemented at low per capita costs. We examine some responsibilities of the international agencies reviewing their own policies and programs, acting regionally on specific control instruments, and sponsoring research. Finally, the political economy of tobacco control is discussed. Chapter 19 (PDF 111KB)