Abstract

Physicians have a key role to play in combating tobacco use and reducing the tobacco induced harm to health. However, there is a paucity of information about tobacco-use and cessation among physicians in developing countries. To assess the need for and nature of smoking cessation services among physicians in developing countries, a detailed literature review of studies published in English, between 1987 and 2010 was carried out. The electronic databases Medline and Pub Med were searched for published studies. The findings show that there are regional variations in the current smoking prevalence, quitting intentions, and cessation services among physicians. Smoking prevalence (median) was highest in Central/Eastern Europe (37%), followed by Africa (29%), Central and South America (25%) and Asia (17.5%). There were significant gender differences in smoking prevalence across studies, with higher prevalence among males than females. Smoking at work or in front of patients was commonly practiced by physicians in some countries. Asking about smoking status or advising patients to quit smoking was not common practice among the physicians, especially among smoker physicians. Organized smoking cessation programs for physicians did not exist in all of these regions. This review suggests that while smoking of physicians varies across different developing regions; prevalence rates tend to be higher than among physicians in developed countries. Quitting rates were low among the physicians, and the delivery of advice on quitting smoking was not common across the studies. To promote tobacco control and increase cessation in populations, there is a need to build physicians’ capacity so that they can engage in tobacco use prevention and cessation activities.

Highlights

  • Tobacco smoking is the leading cause of preventable death world-wide

  • We found a substantial and informative body of literature on smoking among physicians in developing countries

  • A higher number of studies were identified from Central/Eastern Europe and Central/South America than from Asia and Africa

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Summary

Introduction

Tobacco is responsible for 5 million deaths annually This annual toll is expected to increase to 10 million within the 20–30 years, with 70% of deaths occurring in developing countries Discouraging initiation and reducing the use of tobacco is currently among the most important public health strategies that countries can implement. Because of their close contact with the public, and the fact that physicians are role models, opinion leaders and often decision makers for healthcare policy, physicians can play a key role in efforts to reduce smoking. Smoking cessation in large number of smokers, as could be delivered by physicians, could reduce the epidemic of tobacco deaths in the few decades [3]

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