Access to Anti-smoking Information among School Children and its Potential Impact on Preventing Smoking Initiation: Results from the Global Youth Tobacco Use Survey (GYTS) 2014 in Viet Nam.

Van Minh Hoang,Thuy Linh Nguyen,Dinh Hoang Trinh,Thi Hai Phan,Thu Huyen Doan,Tuan Lam Nguyen,Thi Quynh Nga Pham,Ngoc Khue Luong,Bao Giang Kim

doi:10.7314/apjcp.2016.17.s1.31

Van Minh Hoang, Thuy Linh Nguyen + Show 7 more

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https://doi.org/10.7314/apjcp.2016.17.s1.31

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Abstract

Scientific evidence on all aspects of smoking amongst youth is very important for designing appropriate interventions to reduce smoking among this vulnerable population. This paper describes current access to antismoking information among school children aged 13 to 15 years in Vietnam in 2014 and examines its potential impact on preventing smoking initiation. The data used in this paper were obtained from the 2014 Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) in Vietnam. Students were asked questions about their level of awareness of anti-smoking information from various sources in the past 30 days and about lessons in school regarding the dangers of tobacco use during the last 12 months. Those who have never smoked were asked "whether or not they thought about avoiding cigarettes because of health warnings on cigarette packages" and answers were analyzed in combination with data on access to anti-smoking information from other sources. The prevalence of exposure to antismoking campaigns was high among school children in Viet Nam: 55.3% of current smokers reported thoughts of smoking cessation because of health warnings on cigarette packages; 60.5% of never smokers avoided initiating smoking because of the same health warnings. The potential impact of graphic health warnings to prevent school-aged children from smoking initiation would be stronger if there was concurrent access to anti-smoking programs on the dangers of tobacco use in schools. However, school education for tobacco prevention and control has not been as strong as expected. A more comprehensive school curriculum on tobacco prevention and control is recommended to reinforce antismoking messages among school children.

Highlights

Tobacco use is associated with a high burden of disease from non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases and diseases of the digestive tract (Murray and Lopez, 1997; Jha P and Chaloupka, 2000; World Health Organisation, 2003; Lozano et al, 2012)
Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) is conducted based on the core questionnaires provided by the US Center for Disease Control (CDC); countries may add more specific questions based on the local situation and context
The coverage of anti-smoking information among the school children found in this study is higher than the figure of 93.4% reported by the GYTS 2007, conducted in conducted in 9 provinces in Vietnam (World Health Organization and Center for Disease Control, 2007)

Summary

Introduction

Tobacco use is associated with a high burden of disease from non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases and diseases of the digestive tract (Murray and Lopez, 1997; Jha P and Chaloupka, 2000; World Health Organisation, 2003; Lozano et al, 2012). Smoking is the main form of tobacco use and the prevalence of smoking among adults aged 15 years and over was 23.8%, with a higher percentage among males (47.4%) than females (1.4%) (Ministry of Health of Vietnam et al, 2010). According to the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS), carried out in 2007 in nine provinces/cities in Vietnam, the overall smoking prevalence amongst students aged 13-15 in Vietnam from 2007 was 3.3%, 5.9% among males and 1.2% among females (World Health Organization and Center for Disease Control, 2007). Even though the prevalence of smoking amongst youth in Vietnam was relatively low compared to other countries in Western Pacific, the issue should not be neglected because the tobacco industry has been investing extensively in many advertising and marketing campaigns to promote smoking among adolescents, especially females (World Health Organization and Center for Disease Control, 2007; Bonell et al, 2016). As part of a cluster of papers on tobacco control in Vietnam, this paper describes the current access to anti-smoking information among school children aged 13 to 15 years in Vietnam in 2014 and examine its potential impact on preventing smoking initiation

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Discussion