Office of Research, Innovation, and Commercialization, Khyber Medical University, Peshawar, Pakistan.
Institute of Public Health and Social Sciences, Khyber Medical University, Peshawar, Pakistan.
BMJ Open. 2020 Jun 17;10(6):e036468. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-036468.
South Asia is home to more than 300 million smokeless tobacco (ST) users. Bangladesh, India and Pakistan as signatories to the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC) have developed policies aimed at curbing the use of tobacco. The objective of this study is to assess the compliance of ST point-of-sale (POS) vendors and the supply chain with the articles of the FCTC and specifically with national tobacco control laws. We also aim to assess disparities in compliance with tobacco control laws between ST and smoked tobacco products.
The study will be carried out at two sites each in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. We will conduct a sequential mixed-methods study with five components: (1) mapping of ST POS, (2) analyses of ST samples packaging, (3) observation, (4) survey interviews of POS and (5) in-depth interviews with wholesale dealers/suppliers/manufacturers of ST. We aim to conduct at least 300 POS survey interviews and observations, and 6-10 in-depth interviews in each of the three countries. Data collection will be done by trained data collectors. The main statistical analysis will report the frequencies and proportions of shops that comply with the FCTC and local tobacco control policies, and provide a 95% CI of these estimates. The qualitative in-depth interview data will be analysed using the framework approach. The findings will be connected, each component informing the focus and/or design of the next component.
Ethical approvals for the study have been received from the Health Sciences Research Governance Committee at the University of York, UK. In-country approvals were taken from the National Bioethics Committee in Pakistan, the Bangladesh Medical Research Council and the Indian Medical Research Council. Our results will be disseminated via scientific conferences, peer-reviewed research publications and press releases.
南亚拥有超过 3 亿的无烟气烟草（ST）使用者。孟加拉国、印度和巴基斯坦作为《烟草控制框架公约》（FCTC）的签署国，已经制定了旨在遏制烟草使用的政策。本研究的目的是评估 ST 销售点（POS）供应商和供应链对 FCTC 条款的遵守情况，特别是对国家烟草控制法律的遵守情况。我们还旨在评估 ST 和吸烟烟草制品之间对烟草控制法律的遵守情况的差异。
本研究将在孟加拉国、印度和巴基斯坦的每个国家进行两个地点的研究。我们将进行一项具有五个组成部分的顺序混合方法研究：（1）ST POS 映射，（2）ST 样本包装分析，（3）观察，（4）POS 调查访谈，（5）ST 批发商/供应商/制造商的深入访谈。我们的目标是在三个国家中的每个国家进行至少 300 个 POS 调查访谈和观察，以及 6-10 个深入访谈。数据收集将由经过培训的数据收集员进行。主要统计分析将报告符合 FCTC 和当地烟草控制政策的商店的频率和比例，并提供这些估计的 95%置信区间。定性深入访谈数据将使用框架方法进行分析。研究结果将相互联系，每个组成部分为下一个组成部分的重点和/或设计提供信息。
该研究已获得英国约克大学健康科学研究治理委员会的伦理批准。已从巴基斯坦国家生物伦理委员会、孟加拉国医学研究理事会和印度医学研究理事会获得了国内批准。我们的研究结果将通过科学会议、同行评议的研究出版物和新闻稿进行传播。
