Monshi Sarah S, Arbaein Turky J, Alanazi Abdullah M
Department of Health Administration and Hospitals, College of Public Health and Health Informatics, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
Department of Respiratory Therapy, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
East Mediterr Health J. 2024 Dec 3;30(11):730-737. doi: 10.26719/2024.30.11.730.
Tobacco use poses a challenge to public health in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. Although restricting access to tobacco can reduce consumption among adolescents, there is limited knowledge of how to implement the tobacco sales ban policy in the sub-region.
To assess implementation of the ban on tobacco products sales to adolescents in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries as recommended in the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
We used the school-based, self-reported, cross-sectional survey data collected by the Global Youth Tobacco Survey 2013-2018 among 13-15-year-old students from 5 of the 6 Gulf Cooperation Council countries. We analysed the pattern of implementation of the 4 provisions of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control that address the banning of tobacco products sales to adolescents.
Implementation of key provisions related to the banning of tobacco products sales to adolescents varied among the countries. Bahrain, Qatar and United Arab Emirates implemented the 4 provisions, while Kuwait and Oman implemented only one. More than 50% of the adolescents who tried to purchase cigarettes were not refused.
The GCC countries should consistently implement and enforce the policy on banning tobacco products sales to adolescents as part of their tobacco control programmes. Programmes should seek to engage and educate merchants and adolescents on the health implications of tobacco use and the need to enforce compliance.
在海湾合作委员会国家，烟草使用对公共卫生构成挑战。尽管限制烟草获取可减少青少年的消费量，但对于如何在该次区域实施烟草销售禁令政策的了解有限。
评估海湾合作委员会国家按照世界卫生组织《烟草控制框架公约》的建议实施禁止向青少年销售烟草制品禁令的情况。
我们使用了全球青少年烟草调查2013 - 2018年收集的以学校为基础、自我报告的横断面调查数据，这些数据来自海湾合作委员会6个国家中5个国家的13 - 15岁学生。我们分析了世界卫生组织《烟草控制框架公约》中涉及禁止向青少年销售烟草制品的4项规定的实施模式。
各国在实施与禁止向青少年销售烟草制品相关的关键规定方面存在差异。巴林、卡塔尔和阿拉伯联合酋长国实施了这4项规定，而科威特和阿曼仅实施了其中一项。超过50%试图购买香烟的青少年未被拒绝。
海湾合作委员会国家应持续实施并执行禁止向青少年销售烟草制品的政策，将其作为烟草控制计划的一部分。各项计划应致力于让商人和青少年了解烟草使用对健康的影响以及强制合规的必要性，并对他们进行教育。
