On 21 May the WHO and STOP (a global tobacco industry watchdog) published their report 'Hooking the next generation'. The report highlights the ways in which the tobacco and nicotine industry manipulates policies so they can continue to sell products they know are harmful, not just to people's health but to our environment. They can't continue to make money if they can't get more people addicted to their products, so they target the world’s youth by making appealing designs for vapes and utilising social media influencers in marketing campaigns.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says:

World No Tobacco Day 2024 will give a platform to young people across the world, who are urging governments to shield them from predatory tobacco marketing tactics. The industry targets youth for a lifetime of profits, creating a new wave of addiction. Children are using e-cigarettes at rates higher than adults in all regions and globally an estimated 37 million youth aged 13–15 years use tobacco."

To support this campaign they have produced a toolbox of resources around the theme of

Youth step in and speak out

#TobaccoExposed

How would you evaluate the effectiveness of this campaign with the target audience?

Could you predict how successful this year's campaign might be?

Are there tools you could use to evaluate the impact tobacco legislation and various smokefree public health campaigns have had on population health?

Our Public Health Analysis (PHA) course is designed to equip public health professionals with the necessary knowledge and competencies needed so that their public health policy decision-making is driven by the right data. Devised to suit people from a public health background it teaches how a better understanding of statistical data analysis can improve the efficacy of public health programmes.

The course is delivered through interactive sessions, practical exercises, and homework assignments. 

In the course we ran in April this year, participants were encouraged to participate in the discussion and share their experiences to enhance peer learning. In the Health Impact Assessment (HIA) module, they evaluated the effects of the UK's smoking ban policy in pubs and restaurants introduced as part of the 2006 Health Act.

Some of the feedback we received from participants was:

• "One lesson I took away from the HIA exercise was how to apply the techniques and processes in policy making"
• "HIA is very important for health promotion and policy implementation"
• "It has a great impact in reducing demands and social care in a community and promotes evidence- based decision making"
• "HIA is a useful tool for any kind of public intervention"
• "HIA can be done at all stages, also during as well as prior to and after a programme"
• "great practical application of HIA"
• "The process of HIA is not hard, I just have to practice more and include others"
• "The case study on HIA was an excellent exercise"

Using evidenced-based data in PHA to inform policy means it will have greater benefits to population health, whether that be a specific group being targeted (like with the WHO's No Tobacco Day '24 campaign targeting youth) or the population as a whole. Integrating HIAs into PHA creates a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of what works and what doesn't when designing and developing public health campaigns. A well-thought-out HIA guides policymakers through both the potential positive and negative impacts of public health policy and programmes.

Written by: Rachel Barker & Dr Mays Raheem