Viswanathan Bharathi, Warren Charles W, Jones Nathan R, Asma Samira, Bovet Pascal
Unit for Prevention and Control of Cardiovascular Disease, Ministry of Health and Social Development, Victoria, Republic of Seychelles.
Prev Med. 2008 Sep;47 Suppl 1:S33-7. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2008.02.008. Epub 2008 Feb 15.
Tobacco control has been recognized as a main public health concern in Seychelles for the past two decades. Tobacco advertising, sponsoring and promotion has been banned for years, tobacco products are submitted to high taxes, high-profile awareness programs are organized regularly, and several other control measures have been implemented. The Republic of Seychelles was the first country to ratify the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in the African region. Three population-based surveys have been conducted in adults in Seychelles and results showed a substantial decrease in the prevalence of smoking among adults between 1989 and 2004. A first survey in adolescents was conducted in Seychelles in 2002 (the Global Youth Tobacco Survey, GYTS) in a representative sample of 1321 girls and boys aged 13-15 years. The results show that approximately half of students had tried smoking and a quarter of both boys and girls had smoked at least one cigarette during the past 30 days. Although "current smoking" is defined differently in adolescents (>or=1 cigarette during the past 30 days) and in adults (>or=1 cigarette per day), which precludes direct comparison, the high smoking prevalence in youth in Seychelles likely predicts an increasing prevalence of tobacco use in the next adult generation, particularly in women. GYTS 2002 also provides important data on a wide range of specific individual and societal factors influencing tobacco use. Hence, GYTS can be a powerful tool for monitoring the situation of tobacco use in adolescents, for highlighting the need for new policy and programs, and for evaluating the impact of current and future programs.
在过去二十年里，烟草控制已被视为塞舌尔主要的公共卫生问题。烟草广告、赞助和促销活动多年来一直被禁止，烟草产品被课以重税，定期组织高知名度的宣传活动，还实施了其他多项控制措施。塞舌尔共和国是非洲地区第一个批准《世界卫生组织烟草控制框架公约》（FCTC）的国家。塞舌尔针对成年人开展了三项基于人群的调查，结果显示，1989年至2004年间，成年人吸烟率大幅下降。2002年，塞舌尔首次对青少年进行了调查（全球青少年烟草调查，GYTS），抽取了1321名年龄在13至15岁的男女学生作为具有代表性的样本。结果显示，约一半的学生尝试过吸烟，在过去30天里，四分之一的男生和女生至少吸过一支烟。尽管青少年（过去30天内≥1支烟）和成年人（每天≥1支烟）对“当前吸烟”的定义不同，这使得无法进行直接比较，但塞舌尔青少年中较高的吸烟率可能预示着下一代成年人，尤其是女性的烟草使用率将上升。2002年全球青少年烟草调查还提供了有关影响烟草使用的一系列具体个人和社会因素的重要数据。因此，全球青少年烟草调查可以成为监测青少年烟草使用情况、突出新政策和项目需求以及评估当前和未来项目影响的有力工具。
