EFFECTIVENESS OF NEW PICTORIAL HEALTH WARNINGS ON TOBACCO PRODUCTS AMONG TOBACCO CONSUMERS OF THIRUVALLA, KERALA
Tobacco use is a serious public health challenge in several regions of the world. Unchecked, tobacco-related deaths will increase to more than 8 million a year by 2030 and 80% of those deaths will occur in the developing world. Now is the time to fully implement proven and effective interventions that reduce tobacco caused death and disease and to help to end this public epidemic for once and for all. 1) To know the profile of Tobacco consumers in Tiruvalla city of Pathanamthitta, Kerala. 2) To know the proportion of individuals who have noted the current pictorial warning on a smoke-form of tobacco, interpreted it correctly and its effectiveness on Tobacco consumers in Tiruvalla city of Pathanamthitta, Kerala. 3)To study the factors influencing awareness, interpretation and impact of new pictorial warnings. A cross sectional study was conducted among 300 smokers from January to June 2013in Thiruvalla Kerala. Data were collected with pre-tested and pre-designed semi-structured proforma. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted using Epi-info version 3.4.3. In the study out of 300 subjects, 166% had seen the pictorial warning on the tobacco products, 42% interpreted it correctly and 32% said that they have thought of reducing/Quitting the habit of smoking.. Among the subjects who had seen the pictorial warning, only 22.7% of them could recall it as ‗Lung Cancer‘. The study also found out that 91.8% of them suggested that the new picture were more effective than the old picture. The study found that most of the tobacco consumers have seen pictorial warnings on tobacco products, but hardly few of them have comprehended the pictorial warnings correctly. It is also really hope giving that the study found that the new pictorial warnings were more effective as compared to the old pictures