Tobacco control in Turkey (2009)

By Nazmi Bilir, Banu Çakir, Elif Dağli, Toker Ergüder and Zeynep Önder
2009, vii + 80 pages
ISBN 978 92 890 4182 9

Smoking is a serious health problem in Turkey, causing one tenth of all disability-adjusted life years lost. This report outlines the current state of tobacco-smoking in Turkey, including health and social aspects, epidemiological data and economic, legal and political issues.

Until recently one of the major tobacco-producing countries of the world, Turkey has made substantial progress in tobacco control in a short time. It ratified the WHO Framework Convention for Tobacco Control in 2004, and substantially amended a 1996 law in 2008 to become one of the most advanced tobacco control laws in the world.

Even so, about one third of the population still smokes, despite a slight decrease over the last 15 years. This report should serve as a baseline on the status of tobacco, tobacco use and related control activities in Turkey and can be used to monitor future developments in tobacco control in the country.