Traditionally, countries have taken an incremental approach to tobacco control by implementing ‘business as usual’ public health interventions which have the effect of gradually reducing the prevalence of tobacco and/or nicotine use. In contrast, the ‘tobacco endgame’ approach aims to achieve rapid, equitable and profound reductions in smoking prevalence to minimal levels and will likely require more radical ‘endgame interventions’ such as greatly reducing the supply of tobacco products or making them much less affordable, unappealing and non-addictive. There is no agreed definition of an ‘endgame measure’, however they have been described as “initiatives designed to change/eliminate permanently the structural, political and social dynamics that sustain the tobacco epidemic, in order to end it within a specific time”.
We will review documentation of reports, policy proposals and plans led by government, key NGOs and/or tobacco control/smokefree coalitions, or expert groups to:
- Identify and document developments in endgame goals, action plans, and/or implementation of endgame measures.
- Critically evaluate the goals, action plans, and/or measures to assess: a. the degree to which they address inequities in use of tobacco &/or other nicotine products , b. whether and how goals and action plans incorporate tobacco harm reduction approaches, c. whether and how goals and action plans incorporate proposed endgame measures, and d. the degree of evidence of commitment to achievement and implementation of goals, action plans and endgame measures such as government endorsement and defined timelines for implementation.
- Identify priorities for further research, including monitoring and evaluation of endgame measure implementation.
The study is pre-registered on the Open Science Framework at https://osf.io/f24ca/.
Funding
National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC )Centres for Research Excellence Grant, 2023.
Project team members
Coral Gartner (The University of Queensland, Australia)