The Center for Studies on Tobacco and Health is part of the Sérgio Arouca National School of Public Health of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (CETAB/ENSP/FIOCRUZ). It was created through Ordinance GB /ENSP 028/2012 and its mission is to formulate proposals and carry out activities of teaching, research and national and international cooperation for the implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC/WHO) of the World Health Organization and also collaborate in the execution of actions to control other risk factors for chronic non-communicable diseases (CNCD) , and thus contribute to prevention and health promotion in Brazil and to the development of Agenda 2030.
Cetab meets the priorities established by Brazil, as part of the FCTC/WHO. Its multidisciplinary team is made up of professionals and researchers from different areas of knowledge, such as public health, law, environment, communication, international relations, education, among others.
In the area of education, CETAB has offered since 2013, two lato sensu presencial courses: Tobacco Control Policies and Preventing Risk Factors for CNCD: tobacco, alcohol, diet and physical activity, aimed mainly at professionals from the Unified Health System (SUS) such as the Health Surveillance Secretariat (SVS), the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) and State and Municipal Health Secretariats and a distance course, aimed at training professionals in the Unified Health System (SUS), such as the Community of Practices on Tobacco Control for Inspectors of the National Health Surveillance System (SNVS), which aims to add knowledge and promote the sharing of information, experiences and forms of action among SNVS professionals involved in tobacco control actions.
The Center hosts the Observatory on Tobacco Industry Strategies, launched in 2016 to meet the guidelines of Article 5.3 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC/WHO), which emphasizes the need to adopt measures to monitor tobacco industry activities in order to protect public health policies.
In July 2020, CETAB in partnership with the FCTC/WHO Secretariat launched the Knowledge Center for Articles 17 and 18 of the FCTC/WHO https://untobaccocontrol.org/kh/alternatives/ which will meet the demands of the member countries served by the Secretariat in the implementation of these two articles, which deal with the promotion of economically and ecologically healthier alternatives to tobacco planting, as well as care in preserving the environment in tobacco producing areas.
In the area of research, CETAB has developed studies on the economics of tobacco, on the prevalence of the disease caused by the manipulation of tobacco leaves, on the beliefs, attitudes and practices of women who grow tobacco, on the protection and strengthening of public policies of tobacco control, on the use of tobacco derivatives in open TV programming, among others
The Center works in collaboration with Fiocruz's Health Surveillance Coordination and Reference Laboratories, with the FCTC/WHO Secretariat, with the National Commission for the Implementation of the Framework Convention (Conicq), with the Alliance for Tobacco Control (ACTBr), with the National Cancer Institute (Inca) and the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (The Union).