Grant: Project Grant

Despite advances in cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment, inequities in exposure to carcinogens continue to undermine efforts to equitably reduce the burden of cancer for all. Gender is highly associated with tobacco use - the world's leading preventable cause of cancer. Close to half of all preventable cancers diagnosed in Canada are associated with tobacco use and tobacco use is the world's leading preventable cause of cancer. Gendered tobacco use patterns have been observed in nearly every country in the world for decades, and yet, no quantitative analysis has evaluated the gendered effects of global tobacco control interventions. This project will innovate new quantitative methods to evaluate the global gendered impacts of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), leveraging our previous work to accelerate the production of datasets, methodological innovations, and high-impact publications. Specifically, our team (1) Generate the first internationally-comparable gender-disaggregated tobacco consumption database for over 75 countries; (2) Estimate gendered differences in the number of cigarettes smoked per day among current smokers (i.e. smoking intensity) in different regions of the world; (3) Evaluate the FCTC's gendered impacts on cigarette consumption by reproducing our landmark quasi-experimental evaluation of this international law's global impact separately for men and women; and (4) Examine whether the FCTC significantly changed pre-existing tobacco consumption trajectories for men and women using in-sample forecast event modelling. By producing the first quantitative evidence of whether the FCTC has had gendered global impacts, we aim to generate the tools needed to empower quantitative researchers around the world to conduct gender-focused analyses of international law and ultimately design more equitable global cancer prevention interventions.