A qualitative study on a 30-year trend of tobacco use and tobacco control programmes in Islamic Republic of Iran.

We conducted in-depth interviews with key tobacco control policy-makers to explore their views and opinions of trends in tobacco use and the effectiveness of tobacco control programmes over the past 3 decades. A qualitative interview study was conducted in 2014 using a grounded theory approach. In-depth interviews were conducted with 86 key tobacco control policy-makers and data collection was based on principles of saturation. The core code "tobacco consumption and its control programme" was extracted and its related themes were listed. After review and classification by an expert panel, 9 categorized codes emerged. The final 31 codes were ordered according to their conceptual differentiations. Overall, tobacco consumption was constant over the past 3 decades; however it was increasing in females and young people and decreasing in older people; hookah consumption was increasing. A positive outcome is that tobacco use is now viewed negatively in the Islamic Republic of Iran, largely due to tobacco control programmes but the current situation is still not ideal and a comprehensive tobacco control law is needed.

A qualitative study on a 30-year trend of tobacco use and tobacco control programmes in Islamic Republic of Iran

We conducted in-depth interviews with key tobacco control policy-makers to explore their views and opinions of trends in tobacco use and the effectiveness of tobacco control programmes over the past 3 decades. A qualitative interview study was conducted in 2014 using a grounded theory approach. In-depth interviews were conducted with 86 key tobacco control policy-makers and data collection was based on principles of saturation. The core code "tobacco consumption and its control programme" was extracted and its related themes were listed. After review and classification by an expert panel, 9 categorized codes emerged. The final 31 codes were ordered according to their conceptual differentiations. Overall, tobacco consumption was constant over the past 3 decades; however it was increasing in females and young people and decreasing in older people; hookah consumption was increasing. A positive outcome is that tobacco use is now viewed negatively in the Islamic Republic of Iran, largely due to tobacco control programmes but the current situation is still not ideal and a comprehensive tobacco control law is needed

Nous avons mené des entretiens approfondis auprès de responsables politiques clés de la lutte antitabac afin d'examiner leurs vues et opinions sur les tendances du tabagisme et sur l'efficacité des programmes de lutte antitabac au cours des trois dernières décennies. Une étude qualitative par entretiens a été conduite en 2014 suivant la méthodologie dite de la théorie à base empirique. Des entretiens approfondis ont été menés auprès de 86 responsables politiques clés de la lutte antitabac, et la collecte des données a reposé sur le principe de saturation. Le code source " consommation de tabac et programmes de lutte antitabac " a été extrait et les thèmes apparentés ont ensuite été listés. Après examen et classification par un groupe d'experts, neuf codes catégorisés ont émergé ultérieurement. Les 31 codes finaux ont été ordonnés en fonction de leurs différenciations conceptuelles. Dans l'ensemble, le tabagisme est resté constant au cours des 30 dernières années ; mais il a augmenté chez les femmes et les jeunes, a baissé chez les personnes âgées, et la consommation de houka a connu une augmentation. L'un des résultats positifs est que le tabagisme est à présent perçu négativement en République islamique d'Iran, en grande partie grâce aux programmes de lutte antitabac. Mais la situation actuelle est loin d'être idéale et l'adoption d'une législation antitabac complète est nécessaire

WHO MPOWER tobacco control scores in the Eastern Mediterranean countries based on the 2011 report.

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to quantify the implementation of MPOWER tobacco control policies among Eastern Mediterranean Region countries. Information was obtained from the 2011 WHO MPOWER report. A checklist was designed and its scoring was agreed by Iranian and international tobacco control specialists. Seven questions were scored from 0-4 and 3 from 0-3. The 22 countries were ranked by their total score on a scale of 0 to 37. The highest scores were achieved by the Islamic Republic of Iran, Egypt and Jordan 29, 28 and 26 respectively. Twelve of the countries (55%) scored more than half of the possible score (19). The lowest and highest scores for all countries summed were on sections related to banning smoking in public places (18) and tobacco advertising bans (66) respectively. Compliance with smoke-free policies was especially low. MPOWER programmes are accepted in the Region but there is considerable room for improvement. Input from countries based on their successes and challenges is needed to strengthen the programmes.

WHO MPOWER tobacco control scores in the Eastern Mediterranean countries based on the 2011 report

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to quantify the implementation of MPOWER tobacco control policies among Eastern Mediterranean Region countries. Information was obtained from the 2011 WHO MPOWER report. A checklist was designed and its scoring was agreed by Iranian and International tobacco control specialists. Seven questions were scored from 0-4 and 3 from 0-3. The 22 countries were ranked by their total score on a scale of 0 to 37. The highest scores were achieved by the Islamic Republic of Iran, Egypt and Jordan 29, 28 and 26 respectively. Twelve of the countries [55%] scored more than half of the possible score [19]. The lowest and highest scores for all countries summed were on sections related to banning smoking in public places [18] and tobacco advertising bans [66] respectively. Compliance with smoke-free policies was especially low. MPOWER programmes are accepted in the Region but there is considerable room for improvement Input from countries based on their successes and challenges is needed to strengthen the programmes