The habit of tobacco use has been proven to be a leading cause of premature deaths in the United States. Additionally, factors associated with exposures related to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) have been the leading causes of increasing mortality and morbidity levels in the country and at the global scale. To this effect, therefore, there is the need for having in place policy issues that will effectively address tobacco use amongst children and adolescents, reduce the smoking rates amongst adults and finally prevent non-smokers from being exposed to ETS (World Health Organization, 2013). As it has been established, most high-income countries like the United States and other developed nations have made tremendous steps in matters regarding the prevention of tobacco usage.
On the contrary, most middle income and low-income countries are currently facing problems regarding the strategies that need to be put into perspective in ensuring that the habit is put under control. The populace of these countries is usually confronted with a lot of challenges in matters regarding their health to the extent that they end up developing lifestyle complications. Tobacco has been established to cause healthcare complications like cancers mostly of the lung, liver, and trachea, cardiovascular diseases, lung complications like bronchitis and emphysema, reproductive defects like low birth weight and ectopic pregnancy (Rice, Hartmann‐Boyce & Stead, 2013). From the preceding, therefore, there is the need for having in place strategies which will conclusively address any issues brought about by smoking. By putting in place policies from an overall perspective rather than an individualistic one, it will assist in solving the challenges caused by this vice
As such, the most efficient systems which will serve as a way of ensuring smoking cessation currently and in the future generations will be an introduction of school smoking cessation programs, imposing heavy taxes on tobacco products, setting up policies that will cushion minors against purchasing them, smoking bans in public places and the use of conspicuous graphic warning labels on tobacco packages. These policies are discussed below
• School interventions
It is imperative for schools to be at the forefront in making sure that adolescents are actively involved in programs that will prevent them from indulging in tobacco usage. To achieve this objective, schools need to have in place effective tobacco control programs which will make smoking amongst school going children punishable (Patnode et al., 2013). Also, training of teachers on how they should involve parents and families in addressing this issue should from the bulk of the school smoking cessation program. Finally, carrying out evaluations on how effective the programs are will serve as a metric for measuring the success of the policy.
• Imposition of heavy taxes
The price elasticity of demand concerning tobacco products will in a big way act as a control measure for tobacco usage. By setting the taxes of such products highly, it will mean that most individuals will find it challenging to live up to the price elasticity of demand for these products (Garrett et al., 2015). To achieve this objective, there is the need for governments to put in place strict measures which will see to it that these products are purchased at very high prices as a way of discouraging their usage.
• Using warning labels and plain packaging
• Developing policies that restrict minors from accessing tobacco products
It is imperative for governments to roll out policies which will ensure that individuals who have not yet attained the majority age are not able to access cigarette products (Garrett et al., 2015). Such a move is directed at making sure that this portion of the populace is not exposed to tobacco use at a younger age as a way of ensuring the longevity of future generations.
• Smoking bans
Restricting the smoking of cigarettes to particular areas will play a significant role in regulating and limiting the consumption of tobacco products in. Places such as business premises, organizations, and government offices in addition to other public areas are supposed to be protected from any effects caused by tobacco usage (World Health Organization, 2013). These policies will help in addressing the tobacco problem currently and in the future.
References
Garrett, B. E., Dube, S. R., Babb, S., & McAfee, T. (2015). Addressing the social determinants of health to reduce tobacco-related disparities. Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 17(8), 892-897.
Patnode, C. D., O'Connor, E., Whitlock, E. P., Perdue, L. A., Soh, C., & Hollis, J. (2013). Primary care–relevant interventions for tobacco use prevention and cessation in children and adolescents: a systematic evidence review for the US Preventive Services Task Force. Annals of internal medicine, 158(4), 253-260.
Rice, V. H., Hartmann‐Boyce, J., & Stead, L. F. (2013). Nursing interventions for smoking cessation. The Cochrane Library.
World Health Organization. (2013). WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic, 2013: enforcing bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship. World Health Organization.
