The Global Tobacco Surveillance System: “Purpose, Production, and Potential”

Nathan R. Jones, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Charles Warren, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Samira Asma, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

WHO and CDC developed the Global Tobacco Surveillance System (GTSS) to assist all WHO Member States in collecting data on youth and adult tobacco use. The GTSS has core questionnaire but allows countries to include additional unique information at their discretion. The GTSS uses a common survey methodology, field procedures for data collection, and data management and processing techniques across participating sites. The GTSS collects data for youths (Global Youth Tobacco Survey [GYTS]) and adults (Global School Personnel Survey [GSPS] and Global Health Professionals Survey [GHPS]). This paper describes the development and characteristics of GYTS and discusses potential uses of the data. The GYTS provides systematic global surveillance of youth tobacco use. It can be used by countries to monitor tobacco use among youths; guide development, implementation, and evaluation of a tobacco prevention and control programs, and allows comparison of data at the national, regional, and global levels.