BACKGROUND: National investment in tobacco control is necessary for the success of tobacco control initiatives and provide governments with advocacy tools for strengthened investment. They estimate the economic burden of tobacco and model the cost and ROI for scaling-up implementation of key tobacco control measures. Given an evolution of cessation strategies in the past decade - there is opportunity for strengthened focus on the impact of implementing specific cessation interventions. In partnership with the UN Development Programme, Vital Strategies supported the development investment cases for tobacco with expanded models for cessation interventions in four countries - Philippines, Indonesia, Mexico, VietNam.
METHODS: These investment cases follow two core methods. The first is an institutional context analysis, which includes a desk review and key stakeholder interviews to assess the national health system, map stakeholders and government arrangements. The second is economic modelling, which quantifies the economic burden of tobacco on the economy, and determines the benefits of scaled up actions. To complete this, national data is collected for the economic model. These investment cases also feature expanded cessation models, which consider quitlines, brief advice, mCessation, NRTs/medicines, and estimate the number of individuals who quit smoking, and the number of averted deaths and life-years saved due to quitting as a result of scale-up of cessation interventions. The methodology for the expanded cessation modelling was developed by UNDP and verified with global partners and an external review team.
RESULTS: The results include country specific investment cases and provide specific data for policy makers and governments to use to advocate for investment in tobacco control as a whole, and specifically in cessation, using a whole-of-government approach.
CONCLUSIONS: Investment in tobacco cessation services is critical to supporting healthy populations. Developing investment cases that showcase the impact of implementing cessation services can support advocacy and strengthen investment in such initiatives.