Venugopal Divyambika Catakapatri, E Vidhubala, C Sundaramoorthy
Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, Faculty of Dental Sciences, Sri Ramachandra University, Chennai, India. Email:
Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2017 Sep 27;18(9):2349-2354. doi: 10.22034/APJCP.2017.18.9.2349.
Background: Tobacco Sellers (TS) are key stake holders in tobacco control and their compliance with the legislation is crucial to achieve the intended outcome. The current study was conducted to assess the awareness of the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) among TS and their response. Methodology: TS (N=527) were randomly chosen from ten zones of Chennai city. A structured self-administered questionnaire was used to assess awareness and compliance regarding sections 4, 5 and 6. Results: Awareness of COTPA sections-4, 5, 6a, 6b among the TS was 42.0%, 31.0%, 69.3% and 57.2%, respectively, and 65.4% were of the opinion that the tobacco menace can be controlled through legislation. One fourth of the sellers reported that they were contemplating stopping selling tobacco and 13.4% had been requested by various people to stop doing so. The overall profit from tobacco sales was less than 10% for 58.1% of the sellers. There was no change in the sale trends of tobacco products and the smoking form of tobacco was reported to be highly sold (56.2%). Only 54.6% had displayed signboards mentioning the prohibition of smoking in public places as directed under section 4, and 90% of the sellers continued to supply accessories to smoker. In contravention of section-5, 85.6% continued to advertise tobacco in some form and total non-compliance with section-6a and 6b was observed. Conclusion: Awareness on tobacco control legislations among TS was found to be moderate. Furthermore, compliance with the COTPA was minimal.
烟草销售者是烟草控制的关键利益相关者，他们对法规的遵守对于实现预期成果至关重要。本研究旨在评估烟草销售者对《香烟及其他烟草制品法案》（COTPA）的认知及其反应。方法：从钦奈市的十个区域随机选取527名烟草销售者。使用结构化的自填问卷来评估对第4、5和6条的认知及遵守情况。结果：烟草销售者对COTPA第4、5、6a、6b条的认知率分别为42.0%、31.0%、69.3%和57.2%，65.4%的人认为烟草危害可以通过立法加以控制。四分之一的销售者表示他们在考虑停止销售烟草，13.4%的人曾被不同的人要求停止销售。58.1%的销售者烟草销售的总利润不到10%。烟草制品的销售趋势没有变化，据报告烟草的吸烟形式销量很高（56.2%）。只有54.6%的人按照第4条的规定展示了禁止在公共场所吸烟的招牌，90%的销售者继续向吸烟者提供配件。违反第5条规定，85.6%的人继续以某种形式为烟草做广告，并且观察到完全不遵守第6a和6b条规定的情况。结论：发现烟草销售者对烟草控制法规的认知处于中等水平。此外，对COTPA的遵守程度极低。
