The status and future directions of comprehensive tobacco control policies for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games: A review

INTRODUCTION: This review aims to clarify the status and future directions of comprehensive tobacco control policies for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games based on a comparison with seventeen countries that hosted the Olympic Games. METHODS: Seventeen countries that hosted the Olympic Games from 1988 to 2018 were identified by searching the website of IOC. A comparison of the contents was carried out by six themes (Monitor, Protect, Offer, Warn, Enforcement and Raise) in accordance with the MPOWER package for implementation of the FCTC. The comparison items and data were obtained from Global Health Observatory (GHO) data, Japanese government websites, and the literature. Based on the MPOWER scale, the 17 countries were ranked by total score, and a correlation between smoking prevalence and MPOWER total scores was established. RESULTS: The following three results were clarified: 1) Compared to the 17 countries that hosted the Olympic Games, smoking prevalence in Japan at 22.5% is at a moderate level and male smoking prevalence (33.7%) is still higher than other developed countries such as UK (24.7%) and Australia (16.5%); 2) Japanese tobacco control policies were far behind other countries that hosted the Olympic Games, especially in protecting people from tobacco smoke, warning about the dangers of tobacco, anti-tobacco mass media campaigns and enforcing bans on tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship; and 3) The better practice in MPOWER was able to reduce total and male smoking prevalence in the study countries. CONCLUSIONS: Japanese tobacco control policies are far behind other countries that hosted the Olympic Games. In order to successfully hold the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, it will be necessary to strengthen tobacco control policies, based on the FCTC, in the future.