Compliance of Public Places in Bangalore to Anti-Smoking Laws - A CrossSectional Study

Abstract

Background Killing more than eight million people per year tobacco stands as one of the greatest public health threats mankind has faced. Out of the eight million seven million are due to direct tobacco use while 1.2 million are due to second-hand exposure. According to GATS 2016-17 267 million adults in India that is 29 of all adults are tobacco users. Every fourth adult who works indoors is exposed to second-hand smoke. As per COTPA smoking is not allowed in any public place. Any hotel bar and restaurants having more than 30 rooms seats should provide a designated smoking area to allow smoking. Though COTPA mentions these rules many of the restaurantshotels are violating these putting non-smokers at greater risk by exposing them to second-hand smoke. Therefore this study was conducted to assess the compliance of DSA to the COTPA rules.Methodology A cross- sectional study was conducted from July 2021 to August 2021 in two selected areas in Bangalore ndash Jayanagara and Indiranagara. These areas were selected keeping in mind the density of population and public places in Bangalore as a greater number of required sampling units were consolidated in these two zones. After getting the required number of sampling units Bar Restaurant ClubPub Hookah Bar the field investigator was instructed to observe each of the selected unit by the transect walk method. Each field investigator identified a fixed central point in each zone and followed a survey pathway - Observing compliance to DSA and filling the applicable checklist through mobile application. This process was continued until the recommended number was obtained.Results In our study 67.1 of the surveyed facilities were restaurants followed by bars hookah bars and clubs. The no smoking signage was seen in only 29.4 of the surveyed sites. Only 9.5 of the eligible facilities had DSA among the surveyed sites. Out of these only 20 of the indoor DSA fulfilled the recommended criteria.Conclusion The survey was conducted in predominant commercial areas of Bangalore city with more specifically public places and densely populated areas. Study revealed that majority of the sites were not following COTPA recommended signages and guidelines allowing indoor smoking. Compliance to DSA was observed in only 9.5 of the eligible facilities and among this only 20 followed recommended DSA criteria. Though the COTPA legislations are present since almost two decades significant number of breaches in law were observed during the survey.