Provoking the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals through reduction in population’s tobacco consumption in Thailand

Reduction in population’s tobacco consumption is one of the measures that can support the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. This study intends to explore how the population’s tobacco consumption can provoke or obstruct the achievement of Millennium Development Goals in Thailand. Existing secondary data from the national survey on Tobacco and Alcohol consumption by the National Statistical Office during 1991-2011and Health and Welfare Survey were employed. Descriptive statistics and bi-variate analysis were applied to describe trends of tobacco consumption among Thai population and its relationship with the achievement of each MDGs’ targets.
The results revealed that reduction in population’s tobacco consumption through application of tobacco control policies and strategies can partly provoke the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in Thailand especially in term of poverty reduction, achievement of universal primary education, promotion of gender equity and women empowerment, reduction of child mortality, improvement of maternal health, and development of a global partnership for development. However, it still hardly fulfills achievement of combating HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases and ensures environmental sustainability.