Fewer kids smoke
2003-05-30 15:51
Cape Town - A new survey of smoking among schoolchildren shows that South Africa's tough anti-tobacco laws are working, researchers say.
The results, released in time for World No-Tobacco Day on Saturday, show that over three years there has been a drop of almost 10% in the number of children who ever smoked.
At the same time, the researchers say there is a need for programmes to help current smokers quit.
The poll, part of the World Health Organisation's multi-nation Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS), was conducted by a team led by Prof Priscilla Reddy of the Medical Research Council's health promotion research and development group.
Carried out in 2002 among 8 935 teenage pupils at schools in all nine provinces, it was a repeat of a survey conducted in 1999, the year before the revised Tobacco Products Control Act came into operation.
One of the main goals of the 1999 amendments, which banned tobacco advertising and smoking in public places, was to counter smoking among young people.
The MRC researchers reported a drop in pupils who ever smoked from 46.7% in 1999 to 37.6% in 2002, and what they said was a significant decrease in the number of frequent smokers - pupils who had smoked on at least 20 of the previous 30 days.
The MRC was disturbed to find that pupils who smoked were still reporting receiving free cigarettes from tobacco company representatives, even though the number who did so had dropped since 1999.
Free distribution of tobacco products is prohibited by the legislation.
In 1999, 19% of pupils reported first smoking a cigarette before the age of 10; in 2002 this figure had dropped to 16%.
Young people, the researchers found, continued to have items with cigarette logos on them.
They recommended a "sustained campaign" of anti-tobacco messages in the mass media, and a ban on tobacco marketing through logos on non-tobacco items.
The MRC researchers said the GYTS was particularly important for both policy makers and healthcare workers in predicting the future extent of illnesses such as cancer and chronic lung disease.
According to the WHO, tobacco is the second most important risk factor for disease after undernutrition, and that there were 4.9 million tobacco-related deaths worldwide in 2000 - more than Aids.
It says this figure could reach ten million a year by 2020 if there is no concerted worldwide effort to clamp down on tobacco.
The MRC and the Department of Health will celebrate World No Tobacco Day at the Wembezi Stadium in Estcourt, in KwaZulu-Natal, on Saturday morning.
- SAPA