摘要:We examined the impact of tobacco prices or taxes on tobacco use in Latin America and Caribbean countries. We searched MEDLINE, EconLit, LILACS, unpublished literature, 6 specialty journals, and reviewed references. We calculated pooled price elasticities using random-effects models. The 32 studies we examined found that cigarette prices have a negative and statistically significant effect on cigarette consumption. A change in price is associated with a less than proportional change in the quantity of cigarettes demanded. In most Latin American countries, own-price elasticity for cigarettes is likely below −0.5 (pooled elasticities, short-run: −0.31; 95% confidence interval = −0.39, −0.24; long-run: −0.43; 95% CI = −0.51, −0.35). Tax increases effectively reduce cigarette use. Lack of studies using household- or individual-level data limits research’s policy relevance. Among the many challenges facing health systems in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is the increasing burden of noncommunicable diseases. In 2010, more than one third of the 34.5 million deaths attributed to noncommunicable diseases occurred in LMICs. 1 Tobacco use—a major risk factor of noncommunicable diseases—is worryingly high in many Latin American countries. Chile, for example, has one of the highest smoking prevalences in the world (in 2010, 44% of men and 38% of women were current smokers). 2 The tobacco health toll is evident: in Chile, deaths attributable to tobacco use exceeded 15% of all deaths in 2009. 3 Increasing tobacco prices has been found to be the single most effective method to reduce smoking. 4–6 Yet, it appears that relatively little work has been conducted using data from countries of Latin America and the Caribbean: a recent comprehensive review that the International Agency for Research on Cancer conducted identified only 6 studies. 6 Additionally, reviews 4–11 that examine the impact of prices and taxes on the use of tobacco products provide limited quality assessment of the data and methods used and have generally weaker generalizability to LMICs. There are exceptions (examples include Rice et al., 8 Bader et al., 9 and Guindon, 11 who attempt to conduct some quality assessment of individual studies). We systematically searched for and critically reviewed studies that examined the impact of tobacco prices or taxes on tobacco use in countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. We paid particular attention to the data and statistical approaches used.