Tobacco control measures to be strengthened

At the request of the Ministry of Health, experts from the World Health Organization Western Pacific Regional Office (WHO WPRO) and the Secretariat of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) are paying a visit to Mongolia from January 30 to February 3 to advise and support government policy and legislative reforms in tobacco control. The team has been working hand in hand with the Ministry of Health to engage with multiple stakeholders to review progress and strengthen the implementation through multisectoral action of the WHO FCTC and Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products in Mongolia.

Mongolia ratified the WHO FCTC in 2004 and the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products in 2014. Mongolia’s current tobacco control policy is governed by the 2005 Law on Tobacco Control, amended in 2015. Legal analysis of the law shows that there are several gaps to be filled in accordance with the WHO FCTC and its Guidelines for implementation. Addressing these gaps will improve the efficiency of the country’s efforts to reduce the prevalence of tobacco use.

As of 2019, 24.2 percent of Mongolian adults aged 15 to 69 years smoke tobacco. The prevalence of current users of any tobacco products among school students aged 13 to 15 years was 14 percent, with 21 percent of boys and 6.9 percent of girls. Tobacco use kills nearly 4,300 people annually in Mongolia, with 72 percent of these deaths among people under the age of 70. About 12 percent of lives lost from tobacco use are due to exposure to second-hand smoke. Tobacco use causes 143 billion MNT in healthcare expenditures per year in Mongolia.