The 13th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health

Objective: to present the tobacco control policies in Argentina, their advances and accomplishments during 2003/05 and the tobacco industry activities to undermine its policies.

Method: The National Program for Tobacco Control of the National Ministry of Health and Environment, covers the main aspects that determine the high tobaco consumption in Argentina. The program entails a group of intervention lines that operate on these main determinants and are joint in order to exert control on the tobacco problem in its main areas: primary prevention, passive smoker protection and cessation.

Results: In Argentina, up to a few years ago, people only heard of tobacco when the marketing industry promoted the benefits of its products. In the last three years, the population has started to receive responsible information, the MOH has given special priority to the development of tobacco surveillance tools, helping smokers to stop smoking, protecting non-smokerxs rights and modifying behaviours to prevent tobacco consumption. These active policies has allowed more than two millon smokers to give up cigarette consumption.