Turkey expands tobacco use surveys
Data on smoking prevalence and patterns of tobacco use among adults and youth that are both recent and representative of the national population are key to successful guidance of tobacco control programmes. Turkey has shown a commitment to surveillance, beginning with its first implementation of the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) on a nationally and regionally representative sample of students aged 13–15 years in 2003, and with the 2003 implementation of WHO’s World Health Survey.
In 2009, Turkey repeated the GYTS with nationally and regionally representative samples of four regions within the country (the three largest cities – Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir – and the rest of the country). This representative sample design will allow for direct comparisons between the 2003 and 2009 data to show progress and challenges in Turkey’s tobacco control efforts.
In December 2008, Turkey was the first country to complete data collection for the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS), a survey instrument launched as a new component of CDC/WHO’s Global Tobacco Surveillance System. GATS was introduced in 14 low- and middle-income countries with large numbers of smokers. GATS is a standardized household adult tobacco survey that collects data among adults aged 15 years or older on smoking prevalence and patterns; exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke; cessation attempts; exposure to media; and knowledge, attitude and perceptions of the harm caused by tobacco use and of tobacco control measures.
Results from GATS in Turkey show that 31% of adults aged 15 years and older (48% of males and 15% of females) are current smokers. Tobacco use is most prevalent among people aged 25–44 years, with 40% this age group reporting current smoking. More than half of Turkey’s adults have never smoked, and 95% of adults are aware of health warnings on cigarette packages
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