The current status of the tobacco epidemic in Poland

This report was prepared within the framework of the current biannual joint cooperation agreement between the World Health Organization and the Ministry of Health of Poland as an element in the implementation of the Bloomberg Global Tobacco Control Initiative. Poland was one of the countries that pioneered the tobacco control effort. In 1995 it passed the Act on Protection of Health against the Consequences of the Use of Tobacco and Tobacco Products, amended multiple times since then. In 2006 Poland joined the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control. This report presents the current spread of tobacco-smoking in Poland, including the health and social aspects, epidemiological data and economic, legal and political issues. The report also seeks to define key areas in need of improvement and the consequential priorities of tobacco control policy in the medium term.