College students’ knowledge and attitude towards new regulation on smoking ban in public places in Nepal

Abstract

Background: Nepal as a signatory to Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in 2003 has passed a new tobacco control bill entitled “Tobacco product control and regulatory bill, 2010” in 2011. On this background, it is imperative to assess the knowledge and attitude of people towards this new regulation that forbids smoking in public places.

Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 394 students of higher secondary level in three randomly selected colleges of Kathmandu district, Nepal. Information on respondents’ awareness on current ban, source of information, implementation status and their attitude towards the new regulation were collected using self-administered questionnaire. Analysis of quantitative data was done using descriptive statistics whereas qualitative data were analyzed manually.

Results: Majority of respondents (79.9%) said that there is ban on smoking in public places in Nepal. The most common source of information was television (72.3%), followed by friends (36.5%) and family members (33.9 %). Most of the respondents (67.4%) had frequently seen people smoking in public places and 48.8% had not seen or heard any penalty given to those people. Overall, 74.1% of the participants stated that the ban on smoking in public places was a ‘very good thing’. Majority of those who viewed that the ban was good, reasoned ‘it will protect people from diseases like cancer’. Those who viewed that the ban was not good, reasoned ‘people cannot be changed by compelling’ and ‘to smoke or not to smoke is people’s own will’.

Conclusion: This study shows that majority of adolescents are aware of and have positive attitude towards new regulation on smoking ban in public places in Nepal. There is need of implementing the policy strictly by raising awareness among people and penalizing those who violate it.