A decade after introducing WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic, trend analysis of implementation of the WHO FCTC MPOWER in Eastern Mediterranean Region

Abstract

Background: Perfect implementation of the 6 priority policies advocated by the MPOWER package is the most important challenge for member state (MS) to reach tobacco control goals.

Methods: A validated checklist which set according to the WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic was filling out 5 times based on biannual reports from 2011 to 2019 for 22 MS in Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR). It contained ten topics including smoking prevalence and seven elements of six MPOWER policies and tow compliances resulting with possible maximum score of 37. High score indicates better implementation.

Results: The total score for the region increase from 416 in 2011 to 509 in 2019. Six countries (27% of the region) had more than 75% of total score while 11 countries were between 50% - 75% and 5 countries had less than 50% of total score in 2019. In all five reports, Iran has been ranked first in the region even in 2019, which had a 2 point decrease; Iran held the first place alongside with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia with 32 points. The highest score in the indicators was related to the monitoring, reaching from 35 in 2011 to 59 in 2019. The lowest score increase in the indicators was related to the Smoke-free Policy compliance and prevalence of consumption, reaching from 18 to 20 and 44 to 48 respectively between 2011 and 2019.

Conclusions: Although several remarkable achievements have been made, many policy implementation challenges still remain and require urgent action by MS governments.