Abstract
BackgroundThe Chinese National People's Congress ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) on 27 August 2005, signaling China's commitment to implement tobacco control policies and legislation consistent with the treaty. This study was designed to examine attitudes towards four WHO FCTC measures among Chinese urban residents.MethodsIn a cross-sectional design study, survey data were collected from two Chinese urban cities involving a sample of 3,003 residents aged 15 years or older. Through a face-to-face interview, respondents were asked about attitudes toward four tobacco control measures developed by the WHO FCTC. Data on the four dependent measures were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression analyses. Using descriptive statistics, potential change in smoking behavior that smokers might make in response to increasing cigarette prices is also reported.Results81.8% of the respondents in the study sample supported banning smoking in public places, 68.8% favored increasing the cigarette tax, 85.1% supported health warnings on cigarette packages, and 85.7% favored banning tobacco advertising. The likelihood to support these measures was associated with gender, educational level, and personal income. Smokers were less likely to support these measures than non-smokers, with decreased support expressed by daily smokers compared to occasional smokers, and heavy smokers compared to light smokers. The proportion of switching to cheaper cigarette brands, decreasing smoking, and quitting smoking altogether with increased cigarette prices were 29.1%, 30.90% and 40.0% for occasional smokers, respectively; and 30.8%, 32.7% and 36.5% for daily smokers, respectively.ConclusionResults from this study indicate strong public support in key WHO FCTC measures and that increases in cigarette price may reduce tobacco consumption among Chinese urban residents. Findings from this study have implications with respect to policymaking and legislation for tobacco control in China.
Highlights
The Chinese National People's Congress ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) on 27 August 2005, signaling China's commitment to implement tobacco control policies and legislation consistent with the treaty
The sample characteristics are comparable to the two national surveys [11,12], with the exception that it exhibited a higher level of education compared to the national samples, possibly due to the fact that the current sample was drawn from two major metropolitan cities in China
The different demographic predictors that we have identified for four key measures indicate that interventions need to be customized to reach the public for each of the tobacco control measures
Summary
The Chinese National People's Congress ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) on 27 August 2005, signaling China's commitment to implement tobacco control policies and legislation consistent with the treaty. Data from the 2002 national prevalence survey indicated an overall prevalence of 35.8% among China's population 15 years of age and above, with 66.0% ever smokers reported for males and 3.1% for females [1]. These numbers translate to approximately 350 million ever smokers in China. Studies of tobacco-related mortality in China have shown that tobacco smoking already accounts for approximately 800,000 deaths annually [5]. 800,000 Chinese die each year as a result of tobacco use [4] and the number will increase to 2 million by the year 2025, if current smoking rates continue [9]
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