School of Public Health and Community Medicine, B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Nepal.
Department of Primary Care and Public Health, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
PLoS One. 2022 Mar 9;17(3):e0264895. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0264895. eCollection 2022.
Smoke-free legislation banning tobacco smoking in public places was implemented across Nepal in 2014 with the ambition to reduce the impact of second-hand smoking. As part of a comprehensive policy package on tobacco control, the implementation of the legislation has seen a marked reduction in tobacco consumption. Yet there remains uncertainty about the level of compliance with smoke-free public places.
This study assesses the compliance with smoke-free laws in public places and the factors associated with active smoking in public places in Biratnagar Metropolitan City, Nepal.
A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Biratnagar metropolitan city in Province 1 of Nepal from July to December 2019. A total of 725 public places within the metropolitan city were surveyed using a structured survey tool. Active smoking was the primary outcome of the study which was defined as smoking by any person during the data collection time at the designated public place.
The overall compliance with smoke-free legislation was 56.4%. The highest compliance (75.0%) was observed in Government office buildings. The lowest compliance was observed in eateries, entertainment, and shopping venues (26.3%). There was a statistically significant association between active smoking and the presence of 'no smoking' notices appended at the entrance and the odds of active smoking in eateries, entertainment, hospitality, shopping venues, transportations and transits was higher compared to education and health care institutions. None of the 'no smoking' notices displayed fully adhered to the contents as prescribed by the law.
As more than half of the public places complied with the requirements of the legislation, there was satisfactory overall compliance with the smoke-free public places law in this study. The public venues (eateries, shopping venues and transportations) that are more frequently visited and have a high turnover of the public have lower compliance with the legislation. The content of the message in the 'no smoking' notices needs close attention to adhere to the legal requirements.
2014 年，尼泊尔在全国范围内实施了无烟立法，禁止在公共场所吸烟，以减少二手烟的影响。作为烟草控制综合政策的一部分，该立法的实施使烟草消费明显减少。然而，对于公共场所禁烟令的遵守程度仍存在不确定性。
本研究评估了尼泊尔比尔根杰大都市遵守公共场所禁烟法的情况，以及与公共场所吸烟相关的因素。
本研究于 2019 年 7 月至 12 月在尼泊尔第一省比尔根杰大都市进行了一项横断面研究。使用结构化调查工具对大都市内的 725 个公共场所进行了调查。主要研究结果为公共场所的吸烟行为，定义为在指定公共场所收集数据期间任何人员的吸烟行为。
总体而言，禁烟法规的遵守率为 56.4%。政府办公楼的遵守率最高（75.0%），餐馆、娱乐和购物场所的遵守率最低（26.3%）。在餐馆、娱乐、酒店、购物场所、交通和过境场所，与“禁止吸烟”通知的存在存在统计学显著关联，与教育和医疗保健机构相比，这些场所的吸烟行为的几率更高。没有一个“禁止吸烟”通知完全符合法律规定的内容。
由于超过一半的公共场所符合立法要求，因此本研究中公共场所禁烟令的总体遵守情况令人满意。那些更频繁被访问、人流量更高的公共场所（餐馆、购物场所和交通场所）对该立法的遵守程度较低。“禁止吸烟”通知中的信息内容需要密切关注，以遵守法律要求。
