World No Tobacco Day
Brazil is one of the largest tobacco producers in the world. The country participates in the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) of the World Health Organization (WHO), which aims to "Protect present and future generations from the devastating health, social, environmental, and economic consequences of tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco smoke, (...) in order to continuously and substantially reduce the prevalence of tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke."
World No Tobacco Day
On World No Tobacco Day, May 31, PAHO informs on its campaign page that "tobacco cultivation is harmful to our health, the health of farmers, and the health of the planet. The tobacco industry interferes with efforts to replace tobacco cultivation, thereby contributing to the global food crisis." The importance of the day is to bring important discussions on tobacco control at a global level.
Grow Food, Not Tobacco
The 2023 campaign of PAHO is "Grow Food, Not Tobacco" and aims to mobilize governments to end subsidies for tobacco cultivation, as well as direct resources to help farmers transition and increase food security and nutrition.
At the Center for Tobacco and Health Studies of Fiocruz (Cetab/Fiocruz), Marcelo Moreno, coordinator of the Knowledge Center for Articles 17 and 18 of the FCTC, comments that in Brazil, although some families have stopped producing tobacco to engage in other types of production over the years, "others have stopped, but then returned to tobacco production."
Lack of public policies beyond governments
According to Marcelo, the reason for this return of families is related to the lack of public policies that have space beyond governments. "In the past four years, for example, we have not had any calls for proposals to support families that wanted to stop growing tobacco," declares the coordinator.
Moreno explains that it is necessary to be closer to the tobacco workers to take their aspirations into account. "We need to have a closer relationship with these producer families, with support that ensures the commercialization of their production. We need political will to confront this industry that kills so many people," details the coordinator.
Prize to Cetab by WHO
Cetab, which is part of the Sergio Arouca National School of Public Health (Ensp/Fiocruz), has received a prize from WHO for the Americas region. "The prize crowns the work of Cetab since its creation. The center was established in 2012," details Marcelo. He informs that the group also has an industry strategy observatory, with a series of documents showing how the industry interferes with tobacco control policies.
The prize reflects Cetab's work with its contributions to tobacco control in Brazil and its dissemination of the socio-environmental impact of tobacco cultivation and production. See Fiocruz's article about the prize (Portuguese only).