• Gera E Nagelhout, David T Levy, Kenneth Blackman, Laura Currie, Luke Clancy, and Marc C Willemsen.
• Maastricht University, the Netherlands. gnagelhout@stivoro.nl
• Addiction. 2012 Feb 1; 107 (2): 407-16.

AimTo develop a simulation model projecting the effect of tobacco control policies in the Netherlands on smoking prevalence and smoking-attributable deaths.Design, Setting And ParticipantsNetherlands SimSmoke-an adapted version of the SimSmoke simulation model of tobacco control policy-uses population, smoking rates and tobacco control policy data for the Netherlands to predict the effect of seven types of policies: taxes, smoke-free legislation, mass media, advertising bans, health warnings, cessation treatment and youth access policies.MeasurementsOutcome measures were smoking prevalence and smoking-attributable deaths.FindingsWith a comprehensive set of policies, as recommended by MPOWER, smoking prevalence can be decreased by as much as 21% in the first year, increasing to a 35% reduction in the next 20 years and almost 40% by 30 years. By 2040, 7706 deaths can be averted in that year alone with the stronger set of policies. Without effective tobacco control policies, almost a million lives will be lost to tobacco-related diseases between 2011 and 2040. Of those, 145,000 can be saved with a comprehensive tobacco control package.ConclusionsSmoking prevalence and smoking-attributable deaths in the Netherlands can be reduced substantially through tax increases, smoke-free legislation, high-intensity media campaigns, stronger advertising bans and health warnings, comprehensive cessation treatment and youth access laws. The implementation of these FCTC/MPOWER recommended policies could be expected to show similar or even larger relative reductions in smoking prevalence in other countries which currently have weak policies.© 2011 The Authors, Addiction © 2011 Society for the Study of Addiction.

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