Increasing smoke free public places & creating tobacco free educational institutions

• Main Author: Seema Gupta
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: European Publishing 2018-03-01
• Series: Tobacco Induced Diseases
• Subjects: WCTOH
• Online Access: http://www.journalssystem.com/tid/Increasing-smoke-free-public-places-amp-creating-tobacco-free-educational-institutions,84376,0,2.html

Background and challenges to implementation Second Hand Smoking, early age of initiation of tobacco use and the lack of awareness regarding the Cigarette & Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003 amongst the community are among the key challenges in tobacco control and health promotion. Intervention or response In order to educate and empower the community and to initiate a systematic streamline and administrative mechanism & to gauge public opinion regarding awareness of the law and implementation of smoke free rules, a compliance survey on Section 4 & 6 of COTPA was conducted. The interventions included engaging with key stakeholders - District Administration, Community, Media, Village Council Institutions, Education Department, Health Department, Home Department and volunteers; sensitization and capacity building & awareness building campaigns. This was aimed to ensure ownership and sustainability of the cause. Technical support and guidance was extended to the govt. administration to institutionalize the enforcement mechanism. A post-intervention survey was also conducted by an independent agency to evaluate progress and monitor changes, if any. Results and lessons learnt Post-interventions the compliance in Budgam district (J&K state), went up from 14.8% to 91%, in Srinagar (J&K state), from 43.3% to 80%, in Golaghat (Assam), from 7.6% to 42%, in Jagatsinghpur (Orissa), from 23.3% to 96%, in Jhunjhunu (Rajasthan), from 5.6% to 78% and in Shahjahanpur (Uttar Pradesh), from 1.6% to 88%. Other results were Tobacco Free Educational Institutions' declaration in five districts by the Department of Education and a strong enforcement mechanism set up in 8 districts in 5 settings. The Department of Education in Golaghat Assam & Budgam, J&K declared all education institutions as Tobacco Free Institutions. Multi-sectoral approach, multi-stakeholder engagement and community ownership was key in ensuring sustainability which was important to ensure significant progress in the project. Conclusions and key recommendations There was a variance in the success and progress across the 10 districts due to different socio-political and administrative factors.