Combating smoking in Brazil: the strategic importance of government actions/Combate ao Tabagismo no Brasil: a importancia estrategica das acoes governamentais

Brazil is a world benchmark in combating smoking and promoting actions through the National Program for Tobacco Control and other Risk Factors for Cancer (PNCTOFR). This literature review was conducted in order to outline the actions of PNCTOFR and identify evidence of their effectiveness in reducing the prevalence of smoking in Brazil. The documents available in the electronic portals of INCA, the National Policy on Health Promotion, the National Tobacco Control Observatory, the World Health Organization and the Pan American Health Organization were used, in addition to the Lilacs, PubMed Central, SciELO and ScienceDirect databases. The reference bases for analysis of the actions were the areas/dimensions proposed by the International Union for Health Promotion and Education. The restriction of the availability, control of marketing and commercialization, educational activities in schools, assistance in primary care for health professionals and the general population, control of consumption in public places and work are some of the actions that contributed to reduction in the prevalence of smoking in Brazil from 32.7% in 1997 to 14.8% in 2011. The results indicate the effectiveness of the actions of PNCTOFR, albeit smoking is still a public health problem and needs to be curbed. Key words Government programs, Tobacco, Health promotion, Evidence O Brasil e referencia mundial no combate ao tabagismo e desenvolve acoes por meio do Programa Nacional de Controle do Tabagismo e outros Fatores de Risco de Cancer (PNCTOFR). Com objetivo de apresentar as acoes do PNCTOFR identificando as evidencias de sua eficacia na reducao da prevalencia do tabagismo no Brasil, foi realizado este estudo bibliografico. Utilizou-se documentos disponibilizados nos portais eletronicos do Inca, da Politica Nacional de Promocao da Saude, do Observatorio da Politica Nacional de Controle do Tabaco e das Organizacoes Mundial da Saude e Pan-Americana de Saude, alem das bases de dados Lilacs, PubMed Central,SciELO, ScienceDirect. O referencial para analise das acoes foram as areas/dimensoes propostas pela International Union for Health Promotion and Education. A restricao da disponibilidade, controle do marketing e comercializacao, atividades educativas nas escolas, atendimento na atencao primaria a saude a profissionais da area e a populacao em geral, controle do consumo em locais publicos e de trabalho sao algumas das acoes que contribuiram para reducao na prevalencia de tabagismo no Bra