Abstract:
The research entitled Anti-Smoking Campaign in Nongkhai province in 1996 are divided into 5 parts The first part aims to assess the quantity of the activities performed among various target group of population including their impact within 1-year period. This part included a comprehensive activity The second part aims to describe characteristics of smoking among general population. A total of 399 subjects were sampled using a multi-stage sampling technique Data was collected using a standardized questionnaire through interviewing The third part aims to describe action followed the law relating to the tobacco Product Control Act B.E 2535 by cluster sampling study places include 108 retail shops within the Municipality of Nongkhai where tobacco was sold Children under 18 years old were assigned to buy cigarettes from the study shops The shops which offended the laws were fined. Also the researcher team had distributed the leaflets informing the owners about the acts The fourth part aims to describe action followed the law relating to the Non Smokers Health Protection Act BE. 2535 by selected places within the Municipality of Nongkhai include 15 government offices, 5 state enterprises, 7 hotels where the air conditioned eating rooms were presented, 10 air- conditioned restaurants and 13 banks The researcher team evaluated by using the survey checklist and distributed leaflets informing the owners about the acts The fifth part was conducted among the school administrator It aims to determine the prevalence of and reasons for smoking, the proportion of smoking cessation, and their opinion concerning the Law relating to cigarette A total of 158 administrators, one from each school in Nongkhai, were randomly selected Data was also collected using a standardized questionnaire through interviewing Results were presented for each part separately as follows For the first part, activities performed included conducting of 10 seminars where there were 1,454 participants, performing 7 activities of mass education, campaigning for smoking cessation for 7 occasions, producing and disseminating education media relating to cigarette for 7 activities, health education through mass communication for 9 activities, and performed 20 activities in the World Cigarette Smoking Cessation Day Impact of the program revealed that 11.7% of smokers quit smoking There were 76.9% of cigarette stores where the shop keepers showed they have knowledge about the Law relating to cigarette. A high proportion of public place appeared to have a restricted area for smoking such as the office of government sectors (77.3 %), the office of state enterprise sectors (80.0 %), hotels (85.7 %), bank office (92.3 %), air condition restaurant (30.0 %), temples within the municipality (10.0 %) The cigarette factory finally stopped producing cigarette for female after it has been requested for by the demonstrators Prisoners were also educated for the hazard of smoking Banners for this campaign produced by the Provincial Public Health Office of Nongkhai have been reached by wild variety of target population since they were attached by side of the cars For the second part. 22.8 % of the study group were smokers The households where there was at least one smoker was 71.7%. The main reason for smoking, 64.1%, was just want to try to smoke The proportion of smoking cessation was 11.7 % and the main reason for that was because of their health, 42.8 %. The campaign resulting in many issue such as 14.3 % of respondents know about the hazard of smoking, 99.2% know that there was the law prohibit selling cigarette to children of less than 18 years old, and 80.7 % know that smoking in forbidden area will be fined as high as 2,000 baths For the third part, to describe action followed the law relating to the tobacco Product Control Act BE 2535, 55 out of 108 shops (50.9%) sold the cigarettes to children under 18 years of age None of the shops was found to have any commercial advertising materials Forty-six of them (42.6%) displayed the cigarette packet for more than 2 rows which could be seen at the distance All cigarettes packet in all shops were found to have the warning messages No shops was found to have any discounting or any promotion for selling One of them (0.9%) provided the candy in place of the change money Regarding to informing of the Act, 83 of the shop (76.9 %) said they know about the act The sources of information were television (32.5 %), government officers (18.1%), training (18.1%), radio (16.9%) and leaflet, stickers and neighbor or the tobacco companies (7.2 %) Data suggested a statistical significant association between knowing about the Act and selling the cigarettes to children under 18 years of age (p-value < 00001) Among of the shop’s owner who knew about the Act, 60.2 % of them refused to sell cigarette to children under 18 years of age On the contrary, 33 out of 83 owners who know the Act still agree to sell the cigarette to the children Among 25 owners who did not know the Act, (88.0 %) agreed to sell the cigarette and (12.0%) did not. For the fourth part, As far as the Nonsmokers Health Protection Act BE 2535 is concerned, 77.3 % of government offices were found to have the area prohibiting of smoking Forty-nine (65.3 %) of these pieces showed the signs correctly There are 61.3 % smoking area where the ventilators were installed appropriately The other places where the non-smoking area were available, the signs were placed correctly, and the smoking room installed the ventilators appropriately include 80.0 % state enterprise offices, 85.7% of the hotels, 92.3% of the banks, and 30.0% of the restaurants All places offending the law were informed through printed materials such as leaflet and stickers and through the researchers themselves For the fifth part, most of the school administrator were males (98.7%), at personal classification level 6 (43.0 %), married (97.9 %), and at bachelor’s degree of education (85.2 %). Those who currently smoke was 494% and who ever smoked were 14.6% Smoking cessation were 42.2 % From those who smoke, their main reasons for smoking, 70.4%, was for relaxation from those who stop smoking, on the other hands, their reason for such stopping include the effect of the campaign (22.8%) and the requesting of their family members at the same proportion. Most of the administrators,95.6%, knew that there was the Law concerning cigarette being enforced Those who knew the law, 715 % were mainly made known by radios and televisions broadcasting There were 867% who can answer the questions about the Nonsmokers Health Protection Act BE 2535 Among those, 94.3% agree with the Law as stated Eighty-six percent of them agree the prohibited by the Law for smoking in the public They also agree to declare the school to be the non-smoking area (96.2%) and to let the community leaders as well as the teachers stop smoking for the sake being of the good role model for their children (94.0%) Findings of this study show the current situation, the performance of the campaign and their effect, of cigarette smoking These could be of great benefit for planning of expanding the campaign for promoting of cigarette smoking cessation The plan could be specific and can effectively prevent further problems successfully by introducing the appropriate educational methods into the campaign for smoking cessation.
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