Compliance to Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act(COTPA 2003) in public places of Bangalore urban district- Across-sectional study

Abstract

Background Despite having a comprehensive law known as Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act COTPA 2003 which prohibits smoking in public places and requires display of No smoking signages with proper specifications at conspicuous points India still struggles with the slow and modern epidemic of tobacco. Successful implementation of this act has been an uphill task. A compliance survey is an effective method of assessing the progress made in implementation so that policy makers have the necessary information needed.Objectives This study aims to assess the compliance of sections 4 5 of COTPA in Bengaluru Urban district.Methodology A cross-sectional observational study was conducted in February 2018 at 1015 sites including educational institutes bus or taxi stand mall market cinema theatre parks eateries such as restaurantbarsdhaba tea stalls offices health care facilities accommodation facilities Point of SalesPoS in Bengaluru Urban district. The sites were divided into four zones and survey was conducted by trained investigators using an app-based pre tested semi structured questionnaire using smart phones running on Android OS to assess for the compliance to sections 4 5 of the COTPA Act. Results Compliance to Section 4 of COTPA was 61 among the 435 public places visited. Only 30 of the places had signages displayed.580 sites of tobacco Shops or Point of Sale were visited for assessing the compliance to section 5 of COTPA and the overall compliance to section 5 of the Act was 95.Conclusion Our present study shows that the COTPA Act has not been well implemented and a coordinated effort is needed from all the stakeholders for the successful implementation of the same.