Compliance with the smoke-free public places legislation in Nepal: A cross-sectional study from Biratnagar Metropolitan City
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Background
Smoke-free legislation banning tobacco smoking in public places was implemented across Nepal in 2014 with the ambition to reduce the impact of second-hand smoking. As part of a comprehensive policy package on tobacco control, the implementation of the legislation has seen a marked reduction in tobacco consumption. Yet there remains uncertainty about the level of compliance with smoke-free public places.
Objectives
This study assesses the compliance with smoke-free laws in public places and the factors associated with active smoking in public places in Biratnagar Metropolitan City, Nepal.
Methods
A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Biratnagar metropolitan city in Province 1 of Nepal from July to December 2019. A total of 725 public places within the metropolitan city were surveyed using a structured survey tool. Active smoking was the primary outcome of the study which was defined as smoking by any person during the data collection time at the designated public place.
Results
The overall compliance with smoke-free legislation was 56.4%. The highest compliance (75.0%) was observed in Government office buildings. The lowest compliance was observed in eateries, entertainment, and shopping venues (26.3%). There was a statistically significant association between active smoking and the presence of ‘no smoking’ notices appended at the entrance and the odds of active smoking in eateries, entertainment, hospitality, shopping venues, transportations and transits was higher compared to education and health care institutions. None of the ‘no smoking’ notices displayed fully adhered to the contents as prescribed by the law.
Conclusion
As more than half of the public places complied with the requirements of the legislation, there was satisfactory overall compliance with the smoke-free public places law in this study. The public venues (eateries, shopping venues and transportations) that are more frequently visited and have a high turnover of the public have lower compliance with the legislation. The content of the message in the ‘no smoking’ notices needs close attention to adhere to the legal requirements.
Smoke-free legislation banning tobacco smoking in public places was implemented across Nepal in 2014 with the ambition to reduce the impact of second-hand smoking. As part of a comprehensive policy package on tobacco control, the implementation of the legislation has seen a marked reduction in tobacco consumption. Yet there remains uncertainty about the level of compliance with smoke-free public places.
Objectives
This study assesses the compliance with smoke-free laws in public places and the factors associated with active smoking in public places in Biratnagar Metropolitan City, Nepal.
Methods
A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Biratnagar metropolitan city in Province 1 of Nepal from July to December 2019. A total of 725 public places within the metropolitan city were surveyed using a structured survey tool. Active smoking was the primary outcome of the study which was defined as smoking by any person during the data collection time at the designated public place.
Results
The overall compliance with smoke-free legislation was 56.4%. The highest compliance (75.0%) was observed in Government office buildings. The lowest compliance was observed in eateries, entertainment, and shopping venues (26.3%). There was a statistically significant association between active smoking and the presence of ‘no smoking’ notices appended at the entrance and the odds of active smoking in eateries, entertainment, hospitality, shopping venues, transportations and transits was higher compared to education and health care institutions. None of the ‘no smoking’ notices displayed fully adhered to the contents as prescribed by the law.
Conclusion
As more than half of the public places complied with the requirements of the legislation, there was satisfactory overall compliance with the smoke-free public places law in this study. The public venues (eateries, shopping venues and transportations) that are more frequently visited and have a high turnover of the public have lower compliance with the legislation. The content of the message in the ‘no smoking’ notices needs close attention to adhere to the legal requirements.
Date Issued
2022-03-09
Date Acceptance
2022-02-28
Citation
PLoS One, 2022, 17 (3), pp.1-15
ISSN
1932-6203
Publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Start Page
1
End Page
15
Journal / Book Title
PLoS One
Volume
17
Issue
3
Copyright Statement
© 2022 Basnet et al. This is an open
access article distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution License, which
permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided the original
author and source are credited.
access article distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution License, which
permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided the original
author and source are credited.
License URL
Identifier
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0264895
Subjects
General Science & Technology
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2022-03-09