Research in the field of tobacco control in Central and Eastern Europe: case studies from Romania

Abstract

Introduction The objective of this paper is to present the landscape of research in the field of tobacco control from Romania in the last 25 years. Material and Methods The paper highlights the following issues 1. Training, capacity building, national and international cooperation for enhancing research in the field of tobacco control in Romania 2. Research activities which allowed the collection of data regarding tobacco use prevalence and factors which influence it 3. Research regarding development, implementation and evaluation of smoking prevention and cessation programs as well as monitoring and evaluation of tobacco control policies . The data are based on data from literature, as well as the experience of the author in this field. Results The paper presents different national and international projects which made possible research in the field of tobacco control in Romania, underlining the lessons which were learned. It includes implementation of Global Youth Tobacco Survey, Global Adult Tobacco Survey, Health Behavior in School aged Children study, Eurest-Plus project as well as several projects for smoking prevention and cessations such as Smoke Free Class Competion, Quit and Win, Adolescent Smoking Cessation, I do not smoke- a peer led smoking cessation project for adolescents, Development of the first computer tailored smoking cessation program for Romanian adults, Tobacco Cessation Guidelines for High Risk Population. Conclusions The paper analyzes strengths and weaknesses of research in the field of tobacco control in Romania and explores possibilities for continuing and enhancing activities in this field.