Instituto Nacional De Cancer
Year(s) : 2009, 2008, 2007
Grant Recipient Type : Government
Grantor : International Union Against Tobacco and Lung Disease (The Union)/WLF
Project goal : To improve Brazilian smoke-free legislation and national compliance.
Direct Grant : No
The Union
Key achievement to date: An
estimate of the number of deaths due to
secondhand smoke, including both lung cancer
and cardiovascular deaths—statistics that are
a rarity internationally.
Objective: This grant supports
MPOWER letter goals M and P and W, to Monitor
tobacco use and prevention policies, to Protect
people from tobacco smoke and to Warn about the
dangers of tobacco use.
Major
accomplishments to date:
- Bill approved by relevant ministries and now being analyzed by Casa Civil (Central Executive Office).
- Information published through e-Bulletin, webpage, and other means for tobacco control advocates.
- Tobacco control advocates participated in a large number of public debates throughout Brazil.
- Labor Law ruling drafted and submitted to Minister of Health (for smoke-free workplaces).
- Compliance and legislation updates provided to state and municipal tobacco control coordinators through e-Bulletin and webpage.
- Complaints lines (for violations of smoke-free law) established in three cities; study showed that complaint lines in place in five of 26 states. States without complaint lines encouraged to implement them.
- Bulletins produced and/or translated and disseminated; websites updated.
- Forums held in Rio de Janeiro; 18th Epidemiology World Congress & Seventh Epidemiology National Congress held in Porto Alegro.
- Recommendation presented at Ibero American Ministries of Health Meeting and Meeting of Ministries of Health of MERCOSUR to prioritize tobacco control.
- Support provided to states and municipalities to draft bills of law.
- Information materials designed and distributed at National Health Conference and to support National Day against Smoking; two regional forums held.
- Numerous media stories generated and press releases issued.
- Research undertaken on mortality attributable to passive smoking; results presented during Press Conference for National Day against Smoking.
- Research undertaken about costs of passive smoking to the public health care system; results presented during international seminar.
- Campaign plan drafted.
- Survey undertaken in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Brasília of bar and restaurant owners and workers to assess beliefs and perceptions about smoking bans to inform design and undertaking of a campaign supporting the law's approval.
- 6,863 community leaders in Rio de Janeiro, Brasília and São Paulo mobilized to support approval of the bill.
- Communications materials developed and distributed, including buttons, T-shirts, and bus posters.
- Mobilized INCA network and different
segments of society (hospitals, schools,
stores) through various media (community
radios, e-mail, fax, phone calls) to support
smoke-free federal law.