Compliance of specific provisions of tobacco control law around educational institutions in Delhi, India

Abstract

Background:Tobacco use is leading preventable cause of premature deaths. Sales of tobacco products within 100 yards of educational institutions (EIs) in India are restricted under Section 6 of Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003. This study accessed compliance of Section 6 of COTPA around EIs in Delhi.Methods:A cross-sectional study was conducted in randomly selected 100 EIs from 6600 schools/colleges in Delhi. Activities related to Section 6 of COTPA around EIs, such as the sale of tobacco products within a radius of 100 yards, sale of tobacco products to and by minors, and existence of display boards prohibiting sale of tobacco products were observed using Global Positioning System (GPS)-enabled tablet computers preloaded with maps and Open Data Kit software. Data analysis was done using Epi Info version 7.Results:Among the 100 EIs surveyed (53 government, 47 private), tobacco products were sold at 43 outlets within a radius of 100 yards of 27 EIs. No outlet had a display board prohibiting sale of tobacco products to minors. One outlet sold tobacco products to minors during the period of observation, but sale of tobacco products by minors was not observed. Only 38% of EIs displayed board prohibiting tobacco sales; private EIs were significantly less likely to display signs prohibiting tobacco sales than government EIs (45% vs. 81%; P < 0.001).Conclusions:Sale of tobacco products is common around EIs in Delhi. The use of simple technology provided quick results to policy-makers. Similar periodic surveys should help regulatory agencies to strictly enforce provisions of COTPA.

An evaluation of compliance with the cigarettes and other tobacco products act 2003 in Koppal district, Karnataka

“…3,4,[14][15][16] Compliance to section 6B of COTPA act i.e., ban on sale of tobacco products within 100 yards of educational institutions was 64.8% which is better than previous studies done in Karnataka and Kerala and confirms the findings of studies done in Delhi, Chandigarh and Noida. 4,7,[12][13][14] More than 95% of the shops in the present study were in compliance to section 5 of COTPA act 2003 which is similar to findings of another study done in Karnataka (2013) 14 and better than studies done in other parts of the country. 1,12,[18][19][20] Similarly compliance to section 6A was 98.9% in line with the findings of studies done by different authors in different study settings.…”

“…Further, there were an estimated 111.2 million smokers who exposed 52% adults at home, 30 % adults in indoor workplaces and 29% adults in any of the public places to the harmful effects of SHS. [5][6][7] In the interest of public health and to control the ever increasing menace of tobacco use, Government of India passed a legislation "Cigarette and other tobacco products (prohibition of advertisement and regulation of trade and commerce, production, supply, and distribution) Act, 2003. The law intends to prevent the present and future generations from the adverse effects of tobacco use and its successful implementation is an important strategy to prevent the tobacco related deaths and to improve the productivity of the country.…”

“…The law intends to prevent the present and future generations from the adverse effects of tobacco use and its successful implementation is an important strategy to prevent the tobacco related deaths and to improve the productivity of the country. 1,3,[4][5][7][8] Any health related program or legislation needs periodic evaluation to assess its effectiveness and to make necessary changes if needed. With this background, the present evaluation survey of COTPA act 2003 was undertaken in Koppal district, which is one of the backward district in Hyderabad Karnataka region as per Article 371J.…”

Impact of India’s National Tobacco Control Programme on bidi and cigarette consumption: a difference-in-differences analysis

“…Our findings may reflect the substantial challenges and operational obstacles encountered during early stages of the NTCP, these include: insufficient staffing, resource allocation and utilisation, and a lack of effective mechanisms for monitoring and ensuring compliance with the programme 4 6. By 2012, published estimates have suggested that among 21 NTCP states, only 50% had mechanisms in place to monitor compliance of tobacco control interventions; 50% collected penalties for the violation of smoke-free law at public places; 14% collected penalties for the violation of ban on tobacco advertising; compliance with the ban on sale of tobacco products to and by minors, and ban on sale within 100 yards of educational institutions remained poor in many of the states; and smoking cessation facilities were absent from districts in almost 50% of the states 4 25. Two recent cross-sectional studies based in Delhi, India, have both highlighted the unsatisfactory compliance with COTPA due to the absence of a display board outside educational institutions stating prohibition of sale of tobacco products within a radius of 100 yards, and the high frequency of sale of tobacco products within 100 yards of educational institutions 25 26…”

Tobacco menace near educational institutions of Mandya city, South Karnataka

“…6 30 (32.6%) of the educational institutions had the display board that sale of tobacco products is prohibited within a radius of 100 yards of the educational institution which was less compared to study conducted among the educational institutions of Delhi, which was 63%, 94% in a study done in Rajasthan and 50% in a study done in Mangaluru. [6][7][8] 71 (77.2%) educational institutions had tobacco selling outlets within the visible area around them it was only 9% in a study done in Rajasthan and 57% in study done in Mangaluru 6 and 42% in a study done in Delhi. 8 In our study it was found that 12 (8.2%) felt that it could be sold to pre university college/diploma students and 10 (6.8%) opined that it could be sold to high school students, it was comparatively high in a study done in New Delhi which reported 16% of tobacco vendors were selling tobacco to minors.…”