Tobacco is a health and sustainable development issue. Tobacco consumption and production causes early death and disease, results in high health costs and economic losses, widens socioeconomic inequalities, and impedes progress across the Sustainable Development Goals.

This report presents the findings of the case for investing in tobacco control in Suriname, a stated priority of the Government of Suriname. In line with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) Global Strategy to Accelerate Tobacco Control, it measures the costs and benefits—in health and economic terms—of implementing five priority tobacco control measures. The five measures are (1) Increase cigarette taxation to reduce the affordability of tobacco products (WHO FCTC Article 6), (2) Enforce bans on smoking in public places to protect people from tobacco smoke (WHO FCTC Article 8), (3) Implement plain packaging (WHO FCTC Article 11 Guidelines and Article 13), (4) Institute national mass media campaigns against tobacco use (WHO FCTC Article 12), and (5) Support reducing tobacco dependence and encourage cessation by training health professionals to provide brief advice to quit smoking (WHO FCTC Article 14).