Retail endgame strategies: reduce tobacco availability and visibility and promote health equity

Abstract

An increasing number of countries have set tobacco endgame goals that target dramatic reductions in smoking prevalence. To achieve those targets and promote health equity, policies are needed to reduce the retail supply and visibility of tobacco products. Focusing on retailer reduction strategies and tobacco display bans, this special communication reviews solution-oriented research about the retail environment. It highlights examples of policy implementation and identifies data needs and research gaps for designing and evaluating retail policies to promote population health equitably.

Potential impacts of spatial restrictions on tobacco retail availability in China: a simulation study in Shanghai

“…Most contemporary health intervention strategies look to promote overall health as well as reduce inequalities,55 but there is a risk that both aims may not always be achieved simultaneously, as we have found in our simulation study. Therefore, as Marsh et al 56 and Kong and Henriksen57 emphasise, when implementing tobacco retail reduction strategies at the local level, policymakers need to avoid unintended consequences such as exacerbating inequalities 56 57. Notably, among our simulation scenarios, although minimum spacing scenarios might not be able to achieve the aim of reducing availability and inequality simultaneously, school-buffer scenarios appeared to have a considerably good performance in reducing both availability and inequality in Shanghai.…”

Tobacco endgame and priority populations: a scoping review

“…This is particularly the case for policies that have already been implemented or are due to be implemented. These include product standards to reduce appeal or palatability (eg, New Zealand,59 use of reduced risk products such as nicotine vaping products to promote smoking cessation (included in tobacco endgame policy documents in England,69 Canada70 and New Zealand59), large tobacco tax increases, restrictions on the number of tobacco retailers (eg, Hungary and the Netherlands,71 New Zealand59), ending commercial tobacco sales (eg, US cities of Beverly Hills and Manhattan Beach,72 and Bhutan1 73 74) and a tobacco-free generation law (eg, New Zealand,59 Balanga City Council (Philippines)75 and Brookline City Council (Massachusetts, USA)76). Where policies have already been implemented, we recommend that research investigating the impacts and effectiveness of these policies employs robust and rigorous study designs, with concurrent control conditions (whenever possible) 39.…”

Additive impact of multiple point-of-sale tobacco control policies on youth tobacco-related outcomes

“…For example, the inclusion of menthol in FTRs or strategies to reduce tobacco retailer density (e.g. placing a cap on the number of retailers, increasing the distance between retailers, restricting tobacco sales near schools or playgrounds) in a neighborhood may help reduce availability of youth-appealing tobacco products even further than the policies in this study [ 3 , 21 ]. In June 2020 An Act Modernizing Tobacco Control took effect in Massachusetts, a statewide law that included the following provisions: a restriction on sales of all flavors (including menthol) for all types of tobacco products (including vape products) to adult-only smoking bars; a restriction on sales of high-nicotine (>35 mg/ml) vape products to adult-only retailers and smoking bars; and a ban on advertisements for tobacco products that a retailer cannot sell.…”