Brazil is a world benchmark in combating smoking and promoting actions through the National Program for Tobacco Control and other Risk Factors for Cancer (PNCTOFR). This literature review was conducted in order to outline the actions of PNCTOFR and identify evidence of their effectiveness in reducing the prevalence of smoking in Brazil. The documents available in the electronic portals of INCA, the National Policy on Health Promotion, the National Tobacco Control Observatory, the World Health Organization and the Pan American Health Organization were used, in addition to the Lilacs, PubMed Central, SciELO and ScienceDirect databases. The reference bases for analysis of the actions were the areas/dimensions proposed by the International Union for Health Promotion and Education. The restriction of the availability, control of marketing and commercialization, educational activities in schools, assistance in primary care for health professionals and the general population, control of consumption in public places and work are some of the actions that contributed to reduction in the prevalence of smoking in Brazil from 32.7% in 1997 to 14.8% in 2011. The results indicate the effectiveness of the actions of PNCTOFR, albeit smoking is still a public health problem and needs to be curbed.