Leischow Scott J, Okamoto Janet, McIntosh Scott, Ossip Deborah J, Lando Harry A
Mayo Clinic, 13400 E. Shea Blvd, Scottsdale, AZ, USA.
Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, USA.
BMC Public Health. 2017 Apr 20;17(1):338. doi: 10.1186/s12889-017-4234-7.
The World Conference on Tobacco or Health (WCTOH) is held every three years to foster communication and collaboration on global tobacco control. Very little is known about the nature of interactions between WCTOH attendees and their linkages to tobacco control organizations, so knowing this information could help improve tobacco control efforts.
At the 2015 WCTOH, we implemented an online survey to assess barriers to global tobacco control activities, which information sources they use for tobacco control information, and with whom they interact regarding tobacco control.
A total of 169 respondents completed the survey, with responses from all six World Health Organization (WHO) regions. Respondents worked in all areas of tobacco control; the most common were research (29.2%) and patient care/treatment (23.3%). The top barriers faced regarding tobacco control activities were: funding is weak (56.8%), government commitment (45.0%), tobacco industry interference (43.8%), and lack of coordination (34.3%). The network analysis identified Framework Convention Alliance (FCA) and Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT) as the two most prominent groups that people belonged to and where they went to exchange information and best practices. Important regional and country specific groups also appear to be growing, such as the African Tobacco Control Alliance (ATCA) and the Argentinian Association of Tabacology (ASAT).
Mapping and better understanding the global tobacco control network is important for informing knowledge exchange and best practices, particularly as increasing attention is being focused on global tobacco control efforts in low- and middle-income countries in particular.
The present study demonstrates that even a subsample of the WCTOH shows considerable collaboration. The full WCTOH network should be mapped in order to foster greater collaboration that has the the potential to improve global tobacco control efforts.
世界烟草或健康大会（WCTOH）每三年举办一次，以促进全球烟草控制方面的交流与合作。对于WCTOH参会者之间互动的性质及其与烟草控制组织的联系了解甚少，因此掌握这些信息有助于改进烟草控制工作。
在2015年世界烟草或健康大会上，我们开展了一项在线调查，以评估全球烟草控制活动的障碍、他们用于获取烟草控制信息的信息来源，以及他们在烟草控制方面与谁互动。
共有169名受访者完成了调查，来自世界卫生组织（WHO）的所有六个区域。受访者从事烟草控制的各个领域；最常见的是研究（29.2%）和患者护理/治疗（23.3%）。烟草控制活动面临的主要障碍包括：资金不足（56.8%）、政府承诺（45.0%）、烟草行业干扰（43.8%）和缺乏协调（34.3%）。网络分析确定《框架公约》联盟（FCA）和尼古丁与烟草研究协会（SRNT）是人们所属的两个最突出的群体，也是他们交流信息和最佳实践的地方。重要的区域和国家特定群体似乎也在不断发展，如非洲烟草控制联盟（ATCA）和阿根廷烟草学协会（ASAT）。
绘制并更好地了解全球烟草控制网络对于促进知识交流和最佳实践非常重要，但目前尤其需要将更多注意力集中在中低收入国家的全球烟草控制工作上。
本研究表明，即使是WCTOH的一个子样本也显示出相当程度的合作。应该绘制完整的WCTOH网络，以促进更大程度的合作，这有可能改进全球烟草控制工作。
