Global Tobacco Control

Global Tobacco Control
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Tobacco use is a major preventable cause of premature death and disease worldwide. Currently, it is estimated that nearly 8 million people die each year due to tobacco-related illnesses, which costs the global economy US $1.4 trillion annually. An efficient and systematic surveillance mechanism to monitor the epidemic is one of the essential components of a comprehensive tobacco control program.

CDC is the lead US federal agency for comprehensive tobacco prevention and control, and CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health develops, conducts, and supports strategic efforts to protect the public’s health from the harmful effects of tobacco use.

CDC’s global tobacco work is supported by the CDC Foundation through donations from the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use.

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The Global Tobacco Surveillance System (GTSS) aims to enhance country capacity to design, implement, and evaluate tobacco control interventions, and monitor key articles of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and components of the MPOWER technical package.

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GTSS Data Sources

GTSS includes over 20 tobacco data topics including tobacco use, tobacco advertising, cessation, secondhand smoke, school policies, and perceptions of smoking behaviors. the collection of data through four surveys:

  • The Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS)
    The GYTS focuses on youth aged 13-15 years and collects information in schools
  • The Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS)
    The GATS is a nationally representative household survey that monitors tobacco use among adults aged 15 years and older
  • The Tobacco Questions for Surveys (TQS)
    The TQS includes an adult and youth version and provides standardized tobacco questions for integration into other existing surveys for continuous surveillance and/or when it is not feasible for countries to conduct GATS or GYTS. TQS is a list of 22 survey questions taken from the GATS core questionnaire and TQS-Youth is a list of 21 survey questions from the GYTS core questionnaire that can be integrated into surveys to promote data comparability within and across countries over time. These questions can be included in any survey (e.g., health or social surveys) to get a comprehensive picture of tobacco control in any population of interest. The integration of TQS and TQS-Youth is intended to enhance the capacity of countries to design, implement and evaluate tobacco control interventions outlined in the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) through the MPOWER policy package.1

More information about the TQS-Adult and TQS-Youth surveys is available on the GTSSData Documentation page.

Inactive GTSS surveys include the Global School Personnel Survey  (GSPS) and the Global Health Professionals Student Survey (GHPSS). GSPS surveyed teachers and administrators from the same schools that participate in the GYTS. GHPSS focused on 3rd-year students pursuing degrees in dentistry, medicine, nursing, and pharmacy.

Please send us your questions, comments, or suggestions regarding the Global Tobacco Surveillance System.

GTSSData Questions: gtssinfo@cdc.gov
General Questions for the Office on Smoking and Health: tobaccoinfo@cdc.gov