Keywords
Abstract
The goal of the study was to conduct a survey about enforcement and implementation of the smoking ban in some territories, indoor areas and objects, as well as to monitor and observe the implementation of the Federal Law N 15 provisions in the hospitality venues. By using method of telephone interviews we surveyed 1200 people from different federal districts, who called to Advisory telephone Centre for smoking cessation (Russian Quitline) under the Ministry of Health. In addition to that we have conducted non-participant observations in 374 venues in city to verify if the smoking ban was followed, and if there were some ash trays displayed, and if the smoking ban signage was well placed as per the Ministry of Health’ Order. The observations were done in April 2015 in the restaurants, cafes and bars of big city. The analysis of the telephone interviews showed that the majority of respondents were aware about the Tobacco Control National legislation. As a result of the Tobacco Control legislation, about a half (54.2%) of respondents stated that after the Tobacco Control law has come in power they saw people smoking in the non-smoking settings more rarely; a big proportion of respondents who still smoke said they started avoiding smoking in the non-smoking areas (52.9%). Amongst the places where the smoking ban is being violated the most frequently mentioned were: nearby the metro or railways stations’ entrance, staircases of household buildings, platforms of the railway stations, and outdoor children play areas. The observations of implementation of Article 12 of the Federal Tobacco Control Law showed that In cafes, bars and restaurants the smoking ban indoor worked in 98% cases, and designated smoking areas were found in 1.2% venues only. Most of violations reported concerned the placement of the non-smoking signage, as almost a half of visited venues did not have that signage in their entrance, and another 32% of observed venues did not have the signage inside. These results prove the high need of information campaign for population to inform about smoking ban in certain places and venues, about treatment available for those who want to quit smoking, and about the non smoking signage. To summarize, this monitoring of the Tobacco Control Law implementation showed the importance and necessity of those measures, as well as it proved the effective enforcement of the smoking ban in cafes, bars and restaurants, conducted by the Ministry of Health. The team of the researchers consider the studies reported in the current article to be pilot and of investigation’s type, and recommends to conduct a representative study to get more accurate and precise data.